Selfies and shelfies on #bookstagram and #booktok – social media and the mediation of Australian teen reading

Abstract

This article explores how selfies and shelfies on the digital platforms Instagram and TikTok contribute to the dynamics of intermediation for Australian teen readers by presenting two contrasting case studies. The first features Australian Bookstagrammer @BookBookOwl whose social media accounts feature aspirational content in which identity construction is attached to her expertise as a bookstagrammer and book lover. The second is the TikTok account of @hana.might.read who frequently posts using the #booktok hashtag and whose posts are personal and reader-identity focused. The article aims to explore selfie and shelfie practices as examples of social media posts that potentially mediate book and reading culture for Australian teenagers. The article investigates how the examples exist as social media entertainment [Cunningham and Craig 2019 Abidin, Crystal. 2018. Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. Bingley: Emerald Publishing.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. Social Media Entertainment: The New Intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. New York: New York University Press] which incorporate and rely on traits of micro-celebrity [Abidin 2018 Abidin, Crystal. 2018. Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. Bingley: Emerald Publishing.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. Bingley: Emerald Publishing], performativity [Butler 1990 Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge] and relational labour [Baym 2018 Baym, Nancy K. 2018. Playing to the Crowd: Musicians, Audiences, and the Intimate Work of Connection. New York: New York University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv12pnpcg.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. Playing to the Crowd: Musicians, Audiences, and the Intimate Work of Connection. New York: New York University Press] as a key ingredient of their success.

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