Victoria Marie
Ethnographic Inquiry Essay
Ethnographic Inquiry: BookTube
In today’s digital generation, many
people have used the site and watched videos on YouTube, however, navigating
the BookTube community requires a different sort of attention. The BookTube
community is a group of booklovers that congregate to discuss a common
interest: books. Although it is spread
throughout various social media sites, members of this group are found
primarily on the platform, YouTube, where it was established. The community works like any other community
on YouTube; the content is centered round a common interest, people engage with
one another, it is a learning experience for many, and if a viewer enjoys a person’s
content, they may hit the ‘subscribe’ button to get notifications on when they
upload their next video. I will examine
the experiences I have encountered from not only taking part in, but also
studying the online community BookTube, and exploring the difference between
radical fans of books versus members of the BookTube community.
I wouldn’t say BookTube is a complex maze
where users need to decipher the ins and outs however, I will say there are
varying aspects of the BookTubers’ community that intrigued them to join; such
as the variety of video content, the range of genres discussed, and/or the
close-knit bond that occurs within the site. I examined various values within
the community, and from my research, the most evident value BookTube members
displayed was their appreciation for communication. The relationships and involvement members
generate exceeds beyond only the YouTube website; it also extends to many of
the other social media platforms.
The interest I took in researching this
community came from, like many other creators and viewers within BookTube, my
passion and enjoyment for books. I have
always been more of a visual person so back in 2011, I decided to look up book
reviews on YouTube hoping to find videos on the topic, which began my
involvement in the community. Although
you could consider me a part of the community, up until the past couple months,
I did not have a well-informed understanding of the role social media has had
in expanding the community as well as the amount of people who been a part of
the rise in membership. The BookTube
community is made up of everyone participating, even if it means just liking or
commenting. It isn’t just for people who
create videos. Without the people who
comment and like, we would not have much of an audience and participating
community.
This community has been around for less
than a decade, becoming the video form of Book Blogging. From the knowledge I have gained from my time
on BookTube, I have noticed many of the people in the early years of the
community were using videos as an extension of their book blog. As I continued to conduct additional
research, I came across various sources that have provided me with formal
background knowledge on Book Blogging and Video Blogging, commonly known as
Vlogging. Since then, other social media
sites have played a major role in the community’s ability to function. I was able to locate sources that discuss the
importance it has online. In addressing
these topics, I plan on providing additional information to allow for a better
understanding.
In collecting data, I visited my site,
located on the YouTube platform, several times over the course of the past
couple of months. I spent at least an
hour observing; sometimes I would end up spending two to three hours, invested
in my research. Part of my process was
setting the filter, a feature provided on the site, to only show the videos
that were uploaded within the past month.
From my prior knowledge of commonly created videos on BookTube, I would
type popular titles into the search box to explore what the people have to
share. And throughout my research, I
studied many of the BookTubers that were already in my subscription feed. I watched the videos, looked for patterns,
read the description of each video, and analyzed the comments.
As of now the community is only located
online which meant informing participants of my presence and purpose was a
complicated undertaking. In order to use
usernames, I reached out to a few of the many members within the community and
asked for their permission to provide his/her name and content in my
research. Every BookTuber I had asked
responded back, giving me authorization to address them and their content. I even added disclaimers on the videos I had
recently uploaded informing viewers of my research. I was also able to conduct interviews through
the use of Google Forms. I created a
form with various questions relating to the community and to the
individual. My first responder, Kari,
25, had been a long time viewer of BookTube but recently started creating her
own content; she goes by the username BookishlyDevoted. Another fellow
BookTuber, Hope Ortego, 26, has been BookTubing for over a year now, has, “made
so many friends on BookTube who share the same love and hobby for reading
books”; her username is her actual name.
Benjamin or Ben4London, 21, was one of the first male BookTubers I had
subscribed to and he has had his channel since 2012. Lastly, although Kell or beautifulbookchaos,
17 has been away for a bit, she was able to set aside the time to answer the
questions in the form. Their willingness
to respond shows not only the support of BookTube, but the friendships and
connections that evolve within the group.
Sometimes there is just not enough time
to spend hours browsing through a physical bookstore that nowadays, happen to
come few and far between. Other times,
the task can seem daunting due to the excessive amount of books a store or
library can encapsulate. From the time I
have spent on the site, I have observed BookTube’s ability to capture
audiences’ attention in various ways, all reducing the stress of blindly
selecting a reader’s next book.
Although the website and layout resemble
any other community found on YouTube, the content and audience give the
community its own identity. The
interaction between the material and the users has the ability to resonate with
members. When asking Hope Orgeto how the
BookTube community has made an impact in her life, she responded by saying, “I
have made so many friends on BookTube who share the same love and hobby for
reading books. It’s been such a positive
experience, because I now have friends who can relate to a new passion.” Regardless of the online barrier, Orgeto
refers to the people she has met on BookTube as friends. Visitors and members are able to discover
other people who share similar taste in genres, authors, or titles that play a
role in not only the reason people join but why they also stay. In continuing with her response, Ortego
continues, “The community has always encouraged me to read new books, try new
videos, and better the quality of my videos.”
From what I interpreted, it is also a place where users can put
themselves out of their reading comfort zone to read new material. Members might also frequent the community
because they enjoy the way a particular BookTuber might articulate their points
or are fascinated by their vernacular.
It seems as thought members of the community have varying reasons for
why they are there however, it is safe to say that users go there to engage
with other people who share the same interest as them.
The people who inhabit the site find
enjoyment and have an interest in reading, whether it’d be books, graphic
novels, etc. Due to their love of
reading, other reasons members join are to discover books they have not ever
heard of, new releases, new genres, or new forms of reading. They are interested in furthering their
knowledge with the many options provided to them. Where one might struggle in this community is
if they lack the skills to understand; it is expected of the members to be
literate and educated due to the content that is so greatly discusses. As a
viewer, I feel as if an illiterate person were to participate in the community,
they would face many difficulties. He or
she would struggle with being able to fully engage him or herself with the
other members. Being able to read is a
vital/essential quality you’d need in order to be able to function within
it.
Book blogging has been a result of the
BookTube’s creation and audience/members.
This portion of the fieldwork was practically foreign to me in terms of
what it would be like to come from blogging about books to creating videos
about them. Blogging has a significant
association to BookTube; it has been around much longer than BookTubing. Sarah J. Robbins wrote an article on “The
Go-To Bloggers” that calls to attention social media’s significance: “Bloggers’
social media reach is just as important or even more important” (Robbins
37). Bloggers have had a major impact in
the book-publishing world. Readers are
more likely to trust self-run bloggers for an honest review if they have no monetary
affiliation from an independent author or publishing company. Bloggers can be sent books for free in return
for an honest review, however if the blogger’s audience is loyal, he or she
still gain their audience’s trust from the judgments viewers have already
made. Due to the types of media, there
are major differences in book bloggers versus book vloggers. In watching a vlog, viewers have the freedom
to look away but still listen. When
reading, readers must keep their attention on the screen. From my past experience on BookTube, I
learned that many members who began in the community were first bloggers. Over time I have noticed that many of those
who started vlogging had developed an interest in running a blog
themselves. Although they might run a
blog, they are still considered a BookTuber.
Having a book blog is just another form of connecting with their
audience. Written reviews allows for
members to read a more clear, concise wrap up rather than a lengthy, rambled
video review. As long as a BookTube
member still remains on watching or creating on the site, they will always be
associated with the community.
As both a member and an observer, I enjoy
hearing about the books other people have read.
Their reviews give me an idea of what I might come across if I decide to
pick up the book myself. I have noticed
multiple BookTubers discuss the same novel in their videos. Because it is a matter of opinion, I have
learned that by watching multiple reviews on one book or series, the large
range of thoughts prevents viewers from only having a single idea of how one
might feel about the outcome.
In his play regarding C.S. Lewis, Shadowlands, William Nicholas gave Lewis
the line, “We read to know that we’re not alone.” I found myself pondering this quote
throughout the duration of my research.
I have realized a major element in my participation is from the feeling
of being an integral part of an accepting community, that values connection and
communication.
The rituals within the community separate
book fanatics. The purpose of these
rituals is to create a community and keep it going. Not every person who creates videos or is
involved with the site participates in every ritual however; the rituals
mentioned in this set of field notes I commonly practiced throughout the
site. These rituals occur on a monthly
basis. These videos are uploaded either
at the end of the month or right at the beginning of the new month. Through my research, I have noted that not
all BookTubers participate in the ritual every single month due to the
requirements of the different rituals, one of them being monthly “Wrap up and
TBR” videos. In the wrap up section,
BookTubers will run through all the titles they have read throughout the
month. Afterwards, in the To Be Read
(TBR) section, they will introduce the books they plan to read in the next
month. If the creator feels as if there
might be too much content to put in one video, they sometimes split the two
topics into separate videos. Other
rituals are Book Hauls and Unboxing.
These typically take place after a BookTuber acquires an assortment of
books to feature in a video whether it’d be purchasing them in stores or
through mail.
Other values I have seen within the
community are the comments and ratings.
Honestly, throughout my entire observation, the comments I observed were
all positive feedback, discussion based, or both. This can be encouraging to outsiders who have
come across the community. The ‘like’
and ‘dislike’ system is a visual representation of the number of people who
liked and disliked the video. I feel as
if this feature is very beneficial to both BookTubers and viewers. The feedback received from the videos
symbolizes the quality of the material and character of their channel. Also, the amount of subscribers one has could
also be of importance to members depending on BookTuber. It definitely carries significance since it
is frequently mentioned and recommended on many occasions throughout the
community however; while there are some who recommend it, there are others who
push viewers into thinking they must commit to watching their videos.
There are affordances of being an online
community. There are both real and social borders when engaging with the
BookTube community. Users are able to
connect with multiple people around the world however, it lacks personal
interactions, it puts up a boarder because the users are not interacting with
it physically, because it is online.
This also leads to social borders.
Initial reactions, tones, and gestures are not seen through the comments
and there is also no immediate response.
Although the creator is engaging with the audience, the audience cannot
reciprocate the interaction.
In recent years, the Internet has had a
prominent impact in the book publishing industry. Alexis Burling wrote an article in Publishers Weekly discussing how book
publishing has come to YouTube. Although
the article discusses more of celebrity YouTubers becoming authors, she does
mention a few members of the community.
In her writing, Burling discusses the correlation between social media
and readers: “Thanks to blogs and social media site like Tumblr and Instagram,
writers and readers are able to find each other and form communities, trade
book recommendations, and rally behind projects like never before” (Burling
22). Despite the author not specifically
focusing on BookTubers, she does make a point that closely describes the
community: we are able to congregate into a platform, or multiple, to discuss
and recommend books.
Goodreads is a widely known site for
bookworms. When asked about how she
would explain it to newcomers, simply put, Kari described it as “Facebook but
with books!” And as a long time user, I
would have to agree. When I first
discovered the community, multiple people would reference the Goodreads
site. As a BookTuber myself, I noticed
that people would add me as their friend because they know me through
BookTube. The moment I accessed it, I
immediately joined. Since then,
Goodreads has undergone many necessary changes in improving the quality of the
site. From these improvements, it has
made it much easier to engage with more people.
In Barry Trott’s article “Finding Good Reads on Goodreads”, he explains
the layout of the site and also how it functions. What grabbed my attention is that he
addresses and sources the relationship librarians have to the site. He describes Goodreads as a Readers’ Advisory
Tool, a fundamental library service (Trott 321). After reading his explanation, I thought of
how Librarians are using the site to help patrons with their searches; it made
me think of how the Goodreads site is like one massive library and the BookTube
community is like one massive book club, segregated into types of interest.
This goes to show how Goodreads and the BookTube community combined is a way
for people to interact on a whole new level.
Goodreads site is another catalyst for bookworms, a way for readers to
interact with each other that adds variety into the BookTube community.
I had never thought to consider the
stereotypes brought on when people thought of the BookTube community. When I conducted the interviews, I had asked
other members what stereotypes they knew of that were associated with
BookTube. Ben replied, “None.” Kari said she hadn’t really noticed any
stereotypes. Kelli “I could see how an outsider could refer to BookTube as
being nerds or geeks.” Before receiving
her response, I assumed this was a stereotype she then went on to say, “We are
nerds, and we’re proud of it. They use
it in a negative connotation, but we are blessed to be called that.” From my observations, it seems as though
they embrace who they are and what they love regardless of what newcomers may
think. I think this is due to the
support within the community. As long as
members feel welcomed and valued, they do not seemed to be fazed by how others
may react. Both Kelli and Hope made
comments about the idea of money. Hope
responded by saying, “Sometimes I think there’s a stereotype that you have a
lot of money to buy books if you are on BookTube, but I use the library for
most of my reading material and try to encourage people to save their money and
do the same.” Kelli said, “Within the
community, I suppose there is a stereotype that BookTubers have tons of money
that they just spend on books. While the
“tons of money” part generally isn’t true for most of us, we do spend a
considerable amount of money on books because it’s our passion.” From conducting my research, I have noticed
that seems to be a common trait among BookTubers. Even I have mentioned in past videos that I
only spend my money on books.
While I did predict a few, I came across
a few difficulties I did not expect. Although
you could consider already being a part of the community as an advantage, I expected
to struggle with changing my mindset into “study mode” rather than
“entertainment mode”. As an objective
researcher, I did my best in suppressing any preconceptions and judgments I had
in order to not limit my perspectives however, nullifying every bias I had
acquired over the course of four years was unfeasible. Trying to separate what I knew, or thought I
knew, from what I had yet to discover had been difficult. The reason I even wanted to look into the
community in the first place was to get a better understand of it. After reminding myself I needed to conduct
adequate field notes and research, I was able to widen my outlook more.
I never thought to consider content
creators are likely to put on a personality on camera whether they intend to or
not. As a viewer, you do not truly know
what they are like on a day-to-day basis and you are restricted to how they
carry themselves on screen. Also, they
have the ability to edit themselves, to take out unwanted portions of what they
have filmed. I am guilty of doing
this. I clean up the video by removing
many of the repeated words like “um” and taking out all the long pauses when I
am trying to collect my thoughts. I also
will repeat sentences to edit it so I am saying sound more fluent when I go to
edit the finished product. Although I
may sound articulate on the video, it isn’t always the case in person. There are complexities in genuinely
connecting with the people within the BookTube community however, because I
create videos. I am biased in thinking that the connections are true to who
they are as individuals, although it might be more a polished version.
Another issue I came to face with was making
it known that I was looking into the community and figuring out how to overcome
the problem. The idea of informing the
entire community was virtually impossible because of the divisions within the
community. I realized that in order for
me to gain the permission to use content I would need to ask but as far as
observing, I would be able to take notes but leave out names. I did my best in creating awareness though; I
mention the research I was doing by reporting it in the videos I managed to
upload since this project was assigned. I also left it in the description of
each video giving people a chance to read the reason behind my
investigation. Despite the difficulties
I came across while conducting this research, none kept me from being able to
perform my study or hindered my ability to do my best in capturing the true
essence of the community.
The YouTube site itself is not what makes
the BookTube community; it is the people involved that constitute the populace. As a member of the long time member of the
BookTube community, I have watched it grow. The popularity of the channels and
accounts are what makes it such a strong and passionate community. People who
have the common interest of books are a special breed. Our imaginations run
wild with the turn of each page and before we know it we are at the end of an
experience. Being able to relate and discuss with fellow members and followers
of the channel, have made me an active participant of my passion. Having the
ability to share interests is a beautiful thing, and BookTube has allowed so
many of us to connect and share our experiences and favorites. Whether you are
a member of the community or not, I genuinely believe there is a novel out
there for everyone.
Works Cited
Burling, Alexis.
“Book Publishing Comes to YouTube.” Publishers
Weekly. 16
February 2015: 22-26. Print.
Robbins, Sarah J.
“The Go-To Book Bloggers.” Publishers
Weekly. 19 May 2014:
36-38. Print.
Trott, Barry. Naik,
Yesha. “Finding Good Reads on Goodreads.” Reference
&
User Services
Quarterly. 2015: 319-324. Print.
