In the thick of a social media era, the human desire to conform to the newest trends promotes actions that can be both harmful and beneficial. Many social media sensations and viral trends online have rewired what society deems as cool—acting in accordance with these trending personalities, young people turn to books. This favorable development has the potential to offset a generational decline in reading and give rise to a reading renaissance. 

Although there is ultimately positive societal progression with “performative readers”, there are grievances as well. As someone who has practically been reading since leaving the womb, I can’t help but roll my eyes when a video appears on my “for you” page that characterizes the trending reader with strict regulations. 

Real readers—according to some social media influencers—purchase books incessantly to update a rigidly color coded bookshelf, fill their books with neat post-it notes, write extensive commentary between the lines, avoid muddling their minds with anything but respectable literature and the list goes on. I, for one, definitely do not meet these requirements. 

There can be some harm from these expectations when people assume they are not ideal readers or real readers because they don’t check every box. Some people are even scared to pick up a book due to the commitment they perceive as inevitable, or maybe because they are not interested in philosophy or reputable books, so they just shouldn’t “embarrass” themselves by reading something frivolous. These misconceptions can be discouraging to established readers, who think their interests in trashy fantasy or romance or graphic novels invalidate them as readers.

 As an established reader, this is not a debilitating hurdle and yields more benefits as people pick up books to achieve a certain persona. Even if the motivation is questionable, the result is promising. Not only this, but the fragment of social media that preaches the “perfect reader” is small, and the growth of BookTok allows those infatuated with romance to find their clique, free of judgement. 

Essentially, performative trends, by manipulating societal patterns, influence the average person to read so they can keep up with the “trending personality.” People flaunt their esteemed books in public so people passing by will understand the depth of their scholar or check out giant books from the library simply to prove they can read it. Men inconvenienced by the male loneliness epidemic read feminist literature in front of women in hopes that one will be impressed. Albeit performative, this is progress. 

Years ago, reading was nerdy to kids—reading meant staring at a single word on a page with a blank mind, hoping your teacher was not watching you too closely. Now, social media is redefining reading as an aesthetic, something that can make you positively stand out as an intellectual. Every man who sits alone in a cafe studying feminist literature genuinely flips the pages. Every person who wants to appear put-together with a color coded bookshelf or a resume of philosophy they conquered genuinely exposed themselves to those books, and reading is now a part of their world. 

The concept of reading being aesthetic or even performative is not harmful at all and only broadens the demographic of readers. Even though it seems there are strict requirements to be a true reader, there is a place online for everyone. The influence of social media and societal pressures is positive in this scenario, and what is the harm in a little pressure to pick up a book?

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Wynne BruBaker at [email protected].