Discover Why Everyone Is Ditching #bookstagram

This year, I have noticed an increase of Bookstagram drama and creators leaving the platform. Here are my thoughts.

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Transcript

Charity (00:01)
Hey, hi, hello. Let's have some real talk. Okay, so the theme of this year is Bookstagrammers are kind of leaving by the droves. I have seriously considered it for myself and here's why.

So, okay, before I move forward, if you want to hear more about my shenanigans, click the like and subscribe button. The YouTube algorithm loves that and it sprinkles a little magic. So this year I've noticed that the big thing that's been happening on book threads, Bookstagram, is the amount of complaining about Bookstagram. I don't know if the algorithm just likes to show that information to me, but everyone is complaining about Bookstagram.

whatever you wanna call it these days. And a lot of things I do agree with because I have been in the community for almost three years now and I have seen quite a bit and I had to climb to the meager 5 ,000 people followers that I had to get and I am questioning some things because the way that Instagram has been developing over time and makes me question in the long call if it's worth it to me. So the first thing that I wanna say, it's time consuming.

you have to take the pictures. And depending on your style and aesthetic, it takes time to set up those shots, write that caption. Instagram doesn't make it easy. You know, can only schedule on the app, but you can't schedule on the desktop. And you have to make sure you put those all images. You have to create the photos. You have to, you know, you have to edit the photos, filters, whatever the case may be. If it's reels, it just takes time to create those reels, those, you know, all these things. And it just takes time.

very evolving and I have noticed that I would spend more time talking about a book that I'm currently reading than actually reading the book. So I noticed that it was taking me away from that and I was like kind of surprised about that and if you especially if you decide to join engagement groups, I am a you know right in the middle when it comes to engagement groups.

Engagement groups did help me quite a bit starting out my account, but over time it became burdensome to keep up with the like requirements and things like that. So I eventually pulled away from that. But you know, you still, it's still time consuming to be in those engagement groups and things like that. And when I was doing research about Instagram, you got to engage with people to get in front of people and commenting, liking, going through people's feeds and all this stuff was

It was time consuming and now they have changed the features where if I wanted to specifically look up a specific tag like fantasy books, it will pull up only people that are popular, not people that I have recently posted. So I feel like it's just trying to, it's time consuming to find the recent post that will benefit your account. So I just found it like trying to figure out this algorithm and things like that was just time consuming.

So burnout, burnout is a big one. A lot of people are experiencing burnout because of the sheer demand of keeping up with the reading, with what books are popular, especially if you're a mood reader. If you don't wanna read that popular book, but you realize that if you don't read that popular book, you're not gonna be put in front of the algorithm like everybody else is. So I found myself reading books I wasn't in the mood for over the books that are not popular.

It seems like the only way to get in front of people is to post Sarah J. Maas books. Without a doubt, if you want engagement, you talk about Sarah J. Maas. And I've seen some content creators kind of make funny reels about this that, you know, even TikTok is kind of like the same thing. If you want to get in front of people, you got to make things about Sarah J. Maas. And I love Sarah J. Maas. I'm not digging her or anything, but I do wish that that's not the only thing to get views and content.

I feel like it's such a disservice about other books. and Fourth Wing. Fourth Wing is another one. You know, all great books, but I think they're doing the algorithm a disservice when it's only a few handful of popular books is the only way to get good engagement. And I personally feel like we wish we can shift in this area for crying out loud. Of course I don't have any choice in the matter, but yeah, that's just my opinion. So, and burnout keeping up with the pace.

You know, the algorithm likes consistency. They like, you know, being at a certain time or certain things or certain reels, certain pictures and all these things. And it can get very demanding. And if you're not posting regularly, you're not gonna get put in front of people regularly. So I found it like I was burning out on a weekly basis. I do find that if you just take a week or two to pull back from social media, it does make a difference.

But unfortunately, when you go back to social media, to Bookstagram, it hurts the algorithm because you dropped off of the planet. I just like, you gotta be kidding me, it's all right. Another one is the algorithm changes. Instagram made a big algorithm change and it's not just Bookstagram. It's so many different industries, niches, they used to have like 100 ,000 views and now they're pacing at 1200.

and people are scrambling to figure out what the heck is this algorithm. And a lot of times what I've been seeing is that even though you have 5 ,000, 10 ,000 followers, you're only getting put in front of like 100 to 200 people. And even that 100, 200 people are not liking your content. So you're getting maybe, if on a good day, 30 likes, maybe.

I've seen some fortunate people getting over 100. It's just the big popular counts that have 15, 20, 30 ,000 followers are the ones that are maybe pacing over a thousand likes on their accounts. And even if they are pacing over thousand likes on their accounts, it's because of engagement groups. So you can't compare yourself to those people because they have a leg up in the algorithm because they have people assigned.

to their post to like their engagement. So yeah, algorithm has been a beast. I am super frustrated with the algorithm and it's the main complaint. We're like, they said they're prioritizing small accounts and I don't believe it to be honest with you. It's just, it's wild. And you know, a lot of the big accounts are like, why are people complaining about it? And I'm like, well, you're getting more engagement because you have more followers. So of course you're not gonna have the same issues of the smaller accounts.

Yeah, it may be true with the bigger accounts, they're not getting the same engagement as they used to, but I just personally feel like the smaller accounts are hurting and it's just incredibly hard to get in front of people. Negative comparisons. I am a comparer. I'm not proud of it, but I am. I can naturally compare myself, my pictures, my captions to the other Joe, and it's so hard to feel inadequate in front of all these great, amazing Bookstagrammer feeling

Why are they getting 1600 likes and I'm doing similar pictures and I'm not getting anybody? And the comparison is real. It hurts. It makes you feel worthless. It makes you question why are you on this platform? And then you have to engage with other people and then you're comparing yourself to their fancy aesthetics. I love them. I'm not dishing on them. I'm not saying they need to quit or anything, but I compare myself to them. Like, why do I have a nice flower spread with a mirror and a crown?

because I just don't want to buy that items and I don't want to spend an hour putting these posts together, you know, for, for what, you know, for, so yeah. And then one thing I wanted to say, and this is more a jab at Instagram was the follower account. I have been so confused about the follower account. I have noticed that lately I have been getting more followers, like literally maybe three or four a day, right? But my follower account keeps

decreasing. Why is that? Why is that I gain four followers in my notification, in my activity log, but then on my account, it actually decreased by four? I don't understand that. I don't know if takes, some one person says it takes a week to update, I just don't understand why the Instagram is updating the follower account that way. They decrease the number. It's just all over the place and

Lately, I've noticed that a lot of people are saying they post something with their face on it and their follower account decreases by 10. Yes, everyone says, I don't do it for the follower account. Yes, it's true, but you have to admit it matters regardless of whether you're for the follower account or not follow. You notice those numbers, let's be real. And I have noticed that it will decrease when I gain followers and it doesn't go back up.

and I am super frustrated. I don't know if I'm losing, actually losing followers or it's just the stupid program that's doing this to me. So I'm very frustrated with that. I don't understand why it's doing that and it's just mind -boggling to me. So the lack of authenticity.

It's been a big thing, especially on book threads. They've been talking about that. People here are like, I'm just here for the connections and all that stuff. And then you hear other sides of the drama argument that these people who are saying that they're here for the engagement are the ones that only have like 200, they're following only 200 people out of the 15 ,000 people that are following them. And I kind of agree with that. I'm like, if you're here for connections, you should probably follow a little bit more people, but.

I just feel that it doesn't, like especially this question of the days, if you're part of comment pods, a lot of people are not engaging in your content. They're not, they're just quickly as possible, like just maybe liking, they may stop and look at it, but they won't. I have done this a few times, which I should work on, is that I will see person's content and I will comment on their page or I go, this is nice. But then I forget to like it. And I'm like,

That is defeating the purpose. And when I left the engagement groups, I have decided to be more meaningful in my conversations and engage in people's content. And I noticed that some people have like returned the favor and they're really adamant about it, but it's only if they've come through your feed. Yeah, I just don't think the here for the connections are here anymore. And the people that I do feel that are meaningful about it are not popping up on my feeds. And I don't know why that's the case.

And yeah, I think people have good hearts about it, but it's just hard to do it when the algorithm is just kind of awful about putting those people in front of you. I think if you want more meaningful connections, you really have to go out of your way to reach out to that person in the DMs, talk to them one -on -one. That's really the true way to do it. You can't just wait for them to pop up in your algorithm feed and you comment on their posts, or you have

literally just go out your way. I do know that if you, at the top of the feature, if you click friends, you'll be able to filter it more and get rid of the ads and the suggested posts. That's one thing that annoys the crap out of me when it comes to going through my feed is that Instagram, who's supposed to support small content creators, are only recommending these content creators that have lots of followers and they're getting 1200 likes on

on their post and great for them, I love that for them, but if I'm constantly liking their post, it just seems like I'm either looking at an ad or a suggested post that I'm not even following. So it defeats the purpose. So you do have to click the button, filter it out for friends only just to start seeing your friends list. So decreased engagement, yes, that's been a big thing since the algorithm has updated, it has been an atrocious, you don't see.

Lately, I've only been seeing the last, the same 10 people that I've been following and no one knew. I don't know what's up with that. I'm on Instagram quite a bit, at least scrolling through, not posting content and I'm scrolling through and it's always the same 10 people. And I'm never seeing anyone new, especially the small creators. No small creator is suggested in the suggestions for me.

And so it just seems a little redundant that I'm always liking the same 10 people's post and not anybody knew. So yeah, I'm kind of wondering if that's happening to me too. So the financial costs can be big. Yes, I fell down the hole of the sprayed edges from Fairyloot and I do love it, but it's costing quite a bit of pretty penny. Buying books, you know, book hauls are pretty popular. You know, having those bookshelves is very popular, but it cost money.

it cost time. And you know, it's like people get the FOMO on the books so they feel like they have to buy the books. So they go down this rabbit hole of buying books to please the algorithm or because that XYZ person got it, they have to get the book too now. So, and then of course the books to grant props. I love those things. I'm not dishing on you. If that's what you want to invest in, go for it. But for me, when I go to Hobby Lobby and I look at flowers and they're like $15 just for a little thing, I just can't do it for myself.

and I know you can do that economically, but for me, I just don't think it's beneficial for me. Where I want to spend the money, I want to spend money on the books that I do love. And one thing that's a big thing is annotating your books. And I'm like, I can't write in my books all the time. What if I don't want the book and I want to resell the book? So it's this aesthetic thing that goes well on on Bookstagram accounts, but I can't do

So shifting interest, I noticed that a few people are saying that they feel like they want to have lives on the social media outside of Bookstagram, so they're shifting their content to other things. There's one I really love. She does not only book content, but she actually does, you know, health and wellness, and I love that for her. And then she does this Viking thing. I'll definitely put her link in the

description because I love her content, but I don't see it ever and it annoys me, so I have to actually go out of my way to see it. And then there's some people that want to talk about their dogs, their beverages, and their lives, but they feel like that if they go outside of Bookstagram, they're not gonna get the engagement. yeah, that's a big thing. The toxicity in drama. my gosh, so much more on book threads than anything. Personally, I just am very frustrated in this aspect of the community.

Reason being is because a lot of times a lot of people have a lot to say about what you're allowed to do what you're not allowed to do Like you're not allowed to give negative reviews. You're not allowed to give long reviews You're not allowed to talk about books reviews in general All these things and a lot of people have to say that you know, the big thing was does audiobooks count it goes on and on and on and I feel like I'm never allowed to do anything

But if unless the bookstagram community proves it and I have been kind of busting out of that shell recently because I just got tired of it I feel like there's a group of people out there for me who understands that having negative reviews having not so stellar praise about things or they just want to talk about something without feeling like bashed about stuff is out there and I feel like it's

like too positive. like you know let's only talk about the rave about the books but not allowed to talk about the next you know what you didn't like about the books. so at least that's the the counts that are coming across my feed. yeah there's a lot to go into that and the drama about this. you just have to be careful about what you say. i think that's a cross -off platforms but there's no freedom in it in anything. i think i mentioned that i didn't like a particular book talk book and

it got intense, right? So I'm okay with it. You it's like, you do what you do, right? Platform limitations, I'm very frustrated about like, you know, maintain some normality, my brain power, I like to schedule my post, but unfortunately you could only do that on your app. So you have to like edit, do your captions and schedule it. Now

The app has been glitching, so it's hard to write captions without falling apart sometimes. It's hard to do real edits on Instagram platform because I have done 30 minutes worth of edits on there by adding text and all these things and it just crashes or it doesn't add the text that I asked it to.

So there's a lot of issues with the app. I would prefer to do a lot of things on the desktop because it's just easier for me to be able to move from one thing to another. But unfortunately, it's not the case with Bookstagram. Overall, from excessive content, it just feels like you can't actively engage as well because you're flooded with so many different things on an hourly basis. There's a new book being introduced and

every moment and you don't have time to sit there and read the caption. I'm just gonna be real, you can have a very pretty photo. Like I think with the algorithm, if you're not taking the time to read the caption, then the algorithm will kind of ding you for it. So for me, I don't read the captions anymore because I'm like trying to go through as many, my same 10 people all the time and I just don't have the time anymore to read captions.

and I've been noticing a lot of people have been just shortening their captions or not putting anything at all. I still don't know, understand the debate of the hashtags or no hashtags things. Either of the way doesn't work in my benefit, so I can't help you on that one. and another thing is, so now that a lot of people are leaving Bookstagram, they're either flocking to another app or they're flocking all together. They're just, they're dropping off Instagram.

me personally, i am considering pulling back completely from bookstagram. i don't feel like it has been benefiting me getting in front of people lately. not even in my stories i'm lucky enough to get 25 people to see my stories. i have tried everything under the the woods to be able to figure out this crazy algorithm and i have come short so many times and i'm just frustrated and right now currently i feel like i'm getting in front of

people on TikTok and YouTube. And that's just the fact of life right now for me. that's, just, I feel like I would rather do my reviews on YouTube and TikTok. I also believe that I have a little, I feel like I have more of a voice on YouTube and on TikTok than I do with the Instagram. I just don't feel like I'm getting in front of people. I feel like no one is barely engaging in my content.

and I just feel like it's just, it's gone downhill for me. Will I have change? A lot of people say that they have been on it for years and you have to go with the ride of Instagram over time because these things have happened before. But I'm like personally, like with my time being so limited, I just like, I just don't want to stick around for that. Maybe I end everything. So yeah, this is just a kind of

or like just a list of things that I've noticed that why people are leaving bookstagram right now and in my opinion why people are leaving bookstagram right now and some reasons why I might leave bookstagram just because of that fact of the just the things that are going on on that platform yeah so hey let me know in the comments below what you kind of just don't like about bookstagram right now I'd love to hear your opinions and you know I'm like that shoulder to cry on right now I'm like I could like you know they're there I understand I get what you're saying so

or if you just want to complain, you know, it's a safe space. But yeah, thank you. Thank you for joining me. I just was rambling. I decided to do this and I'm glad I did. So I'll catch you later, readers. Bye.