Bookternet
| Synonyms: | Internet of Books, Bookfluencers |
| See also: | |
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Bookternet refers to the online communities and subculture of book lovers. This is often an umbrella term for communities like BookTube, BookTok, Booklr, Goodreads and others.
Definition
It was phrase that was coined by former Tumblr staff Rachel Fershleiser, known for the Reblog Book Club. She has spoke at-length about the Bookternet in TED Talks, and in panels to various leading book publishers.
It is not the most widespread term, and is frequently used by acafans and book publishers as an collective term for the "online book community", existing on various different platforms.
Many of these book communities can be identified by their amalgamated name combining the word "book" with their platform of choice, like BookTube (Book + Youtube), Bookstagram (Book + Instagram), or BookTok (Book + TikTok).
Some of the most popular books with these communities include young adult literature, fantasy and romance (sometimes nicknamed 'romantasy').
Usage
As defined by Clive Thompson:
The Bookternet, or the Internet of books, is a network of farflung, sometimes obscure communities of interest located in nooks and crannies all over the web. It is distributed, so it's hard for institutions to deal with. There's no center to to this universe, it's everywhere.[1]
As explained by Rachel:
Ha! I think it’s important I clarify that “bookternet” is more of a joke than a Term of Art. There’s only so many times you can say “The people who are big book nerds but also love Twitter and Tumblr and write about books and will show up at kooky readings and talk about your favorite writers and make a lot of dumb jokes about smart things” before you need a semi-ironic portmanteau. For a long time it felt like a lot of “serious readers” and publishing professionals disdained social media, and so defining yourself as someone who didn’t was more important. Now that that’s less true, maybe we can put ourselves out of business. But anyway, I love combining literary culture with online culture. It’s just talking about books! I’m so grateful to have a community of people I can talk to about any book at any time of day or night no matter where they live. I couldn’t have imagined that during my formative hiding-in-the-school-library-during lunch years.[2]
Communities
These communities are often viewed as part of the 'bookternet', typically these communities are not centered on a single book, but multi-fandom by definition:
- Book blogs (typically on Wordpress or Blogger)
- Goodreads: (a popular database and review site for books)
Platform-specific
- BookTube: (book + YouTube)
- Booklr: (book + Tumblr)
- Bookstagram (book + Instagram)
- Booktwt (book + Twitter)
- BookTok (book + TikTok)
Glossary
Many of these communities often share the same fan vernacular, and is not limited to one community and is used by several:
- TBR: To be Read. A book that has reader has not yet read, or an unread book they own.
- ARCs: Advanced Reader Copy. This is an early edition of a book given to a fan for means of marketing.
- DNF: Did Not Finish. A book that the reader has given up and stopped reading.
- Shelfie: (selfie + bookshelf) A photo of the reader's bookshelf.