Teens discover books on social media. What will the under-16s ban do to their reading? |
In a video address to the nation, timed with Australia’s world-first teen social media ban, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese encouraged under-16-year-olds newly unable to access social media to “read that book”.
The ban excludes anyone under 16 from a range of social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
But social media communities like #BookTok and #Bookstagram, led by teen literary influencers on TikTok and Instagram respectively, significantly influence what and how much teens read. #BookTok in particular is credited with “driving sales and launching authors’ careers”, as one Guardian report put it. Women and girls aged 12-25 are BookTok’s most enthusiastic users.
At the same time, Australians are reportedly reading less than ever before: one in three Australian children are unable to read proficiently. There’s a national conversation about how to get kids and teens reading more – but it seems to be missing something important.
If social media led to a teen reading boom, what impact might the new social media ban have on teen reading?
Social media platforms generate enthusiasm not only about what to read, but the act of reading itself.
Arielle was 15 when she credited BookTube (YouTube’s reading community) with turning her into a reader. “If you are a young person like I am, and you enjoy reading, and you don’t have access to a book club, like I don’t have, BookTubers can feed that sense of community,” she told the ABC last year.
Many teen accounts have now been deactivated. The remaining ones no longer signal their age. In the first days of the ban, my attempts to find active BookTok accounts led by Australian teens found traces of........