Is there still a future for books in the age of TikTok, IG, and Facebook?

Amidst the discordant din of social media, can we remind people of the primordial importance of reading and mass literacy for true democracy to question and subvert the cynical incompetence, demagoguery, and corruption of not a few of our politicians?

Are people aware that reading books and newspapers in print (rather than on electronic devices) is healthier for our eyes and intellect, better for memory retention and for inducing sleep at night, and that too much screen reading isn’t good for our cognition? 

#BookTok and a renaissance of book reading (especially among teens)

The good news is that, yes, books—including those on paper—and bookstores are alive in this age of TikTok. In fact, they’re even benefitting from social media. Four years ago, the then newly-created #Booktok hashtag of book reviews and book recommendations on Tiktok had less than a thousand views; by this year, it now has over 165.2 billion views worldwide. Wow! Even the hashtag #booktokhilippines has 45.4 million views. People are still apparently interested in books.

The Sydney Herald article, “How TikTok created a Gen Z reading revolution,” credits #BookTok for creating a resurgence of interest in books and boosting its revenues.

@luckies_universe Getting caught reading FF in class is such a rookie move 🙄 #booktok #books #parenting #reading ♬ original sound - Luckie's Universe

Thanks (I guess) to TikTok for inspiring a “reading renaissance,” with booksellers like the once-declining Barnes & Noble back alive again and even featuring TikTok-inspired physical displays highlighting popular books on #BookTok. The #BookTok phenomenon has even led to film adaptations of those books it popularizes.

In recent weeks and months, aside from hosting poetry events with National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario, a Balagtasan literary joust between poets Prof. Dr. Mike Corroza and Prof. Dr. Vim Nadera, readings of ancient classical Chinese poetry by diplomat Zheng Junlyu at the Pandesal Forum of Kamuning Bakery Café in Quezon City, I have also invited diverse book authors and National Bookstore chain managing director and Anvil Publishing president Xandra Ramos Padilla to speak on books.

‘Filipiniana’ books by Butch Dalisay, Danton Remoto, Yvette Tan, Ige Ramos, Bobby Tuazon

Among the multi-awarded book authors from different genres I invited to speak at the tertulia-inspired Pandesal Forum to dialogue with media and intellectuals were novelist, educator, Palanca Hall of Famer and STAR columnist Prof. Butch Yap Dalisay (over 40 books, including novels Killing Time in a Warm Place and Soledad’s Sister); award-winning novelist, Radyo5 host and Manila Times news editor/columnist Prof. Danton Remoto (author of 15 books, including the novel Riverrun and short story collection The Heat of Summer); horror fiction author, Agriculture magazine editor-in-chief and Manila Bulletin agriculture editor/columnist Yvette Tan (her books include Seek Ye Whore and Other Stories, and Waking the Dead and Other Horror Stories); food historian, book designer and visual artist Ige Ramos (his books include Republic of Taste: The Untold Stories of Cavite Cuisine); and University of the Philippines political science expert Prof. Bobby M. Tuazon (whose 15 books include his latest, The Marcos Restoration: The CenPEG Papers on Election 2022).

Apart from honoring them for their good, must-read books, I asked them to discuss the book-writing process for authors in the Philippines and if they could exhort the public to read more books.

Maureen Alexandra “Xandra” Ramos Padilla revealed that, even during the three years of pandemic lockdowns affecting malls and bookstores, people were still buying books online. 

The National Book Development Board (NBDB), which has Padilla as part of the governing board, said registered book sales in the Philippines jumped by 72 percent to P3.35 billion at the height of the pandemic in 2020 (with the Department of Education being the biggest institutional customer, buying P1.86 billion worth of textbooks and instructional materials in 2020), and book sales further increased to P3.74 billion in 2021.

Padilla said: “When the lockdown ended, we were back to having book launches. We were glad to see people line up for their favorite authors’ newest books.”

Guest writers Dalisay, Remoto, Tan, Ramos, Tuazon, and Padilla urged Philippine society to encourage children to read books, and for the public to patronize Filipino authors and books.

Dalisay and Remoto encouraged fellow writers to create more interesting works to tap the sizeable and growing Filipino reading market, plus the global market as well, in the case of Dalisay’s foreign editions and Remoto’s four books published by Penguin Random House. One of these is Remoto’s English translation of National Artist and nationalist Amado V. Hernandez’s social realism novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit or The Preying Birds. 

(By the way, Kamuning Bakery Café has tied up with the Quezon City Public Library to encourage people to donate their used books, which can be left at the big donation box at Judge Jimenez Street corner K-1st Street, Barangay Kamuning, Quezon City daily from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. All books are turned over to the Q.C. Public Library.)

So according to some in our local writing and publishing industries, things are actually looking up for the future of books and reading, despite the other competition for our time and attention. So keep reading!