Book Community or Something Else

I've been thinking a lot about the book community and whether it is an actual community. In a lot of ways, I think we often use descriptors synonymously and meaning starts to get lost in translation. This is the power of language, which is forever evolving, but for the purpose of this post, this loose definition is what I mean when I’m referring to the bookish community.

A community is a group of people who acknowledge their common purpose, respect their differences, share in group decision-making, are accountable for the actions of the group, and support each other's growth.

Based on this definition we should talk...😅

Come together for a shared purpose...

I first joined the bookish community because I wanted to meet other readers. Iykyk, readers validate each other's deep love for reading. I awkwardly joined in 2017 and haphazardly learned about different types of reader entry points at the time it was BookTube. BookTube was queen and moved books, influenced reading consumption, and so much more. BookTube is now sharing its influence with other spaces as in BookTwitter, Bookstagram, and now BookTok. I'm sure I'm missing other enclaves, I'm old let me be. This leads me to think that the book community gets coming together for the shared purpose of the love of books, but things start to quickly implode for the other components (I think).

Do we respect each other's differences? 👀

Um check the cycle of bookish discourse, so I'm going to say no on this one. I don't think I need to belabor this point much. It's a lot all the time.

Share in group decision-making ⛔

I'm going to say no on this too. I think a lot of the consternation often is no one gets to decide on what’s cool for the collective. But I do think there might be unspoken or vaguely agreed-upon unwritten norms. Hear me out, we share out preferences, and call-out harmful behavior/language but there's no real way for the book community to make group decisions. Though, there are examples of mobilizing when something needs to be done. I think this mobilization is a form of making decisions for issues that are important to clusters of people.

And then we have to contend with the differences between platforms. What is okay on BookTok does not always land well on BookTwitter and so on. Here I think we have to acknowledge there are different norms based on the platform. So, when people cross-pollinate bookish discussion topics be in for a long ride. I can’t always say a decision has been made, but we move on to something else.

I think then, in some ways, decision-making could occur on a micro level vs a macro level. And on a macro-level decision-making maybe takes the form of rules on how to behave or engage based on where you’re situated. Either way, I still think there is no group decision-making.  

Accountable for actions 😒

Checks notes, this one is a malleable NO. Case in point, action is called out, the person/entity doubles down, then issues a tepid apology, and the apology is quickly followed by taking a break. Some time passes then the person/entity resurrects, it's questionable if the behavior has changed but things appear to be business as usual. Sounds familiar!! One point to make here is this cycle does not have the same outcome for people of color. Mistakes, missteps, or just flawed thinking seem to take on a whole new meaning of accountability. And I don’t often think the same level of grace to return to business as usual is offered. I guess what I’m trying to say here is my accountability cynicism comes from repeat offenders.

Any form of growth or change takes time and there have been cases where folks have said I learned from this fill-in-the-blank. But can you hold someone accountable if they continue to have access to the group? Here is where I think people just leave rather than change or deal with strangers trying to hold them “accountable”. Accountability vs your personal values/expectations make this action really hard to execute.  

Supports each other's growth ⌛

This one I think is an uncomfortable yes. I think in some cases the discourse comes from a place of wanting to see people grow or do better. However, I don't think everybody wants to, so it feels like the discourse is in vain. I do think though, a by-product of the discourse can be people learning in some form from the discussion. I personally think about how much more expansive my language has become, increased my empathic imagination, and in some cases even challenged my beliefs. I might not have been supported traditionally, but there was growth and more room for growth. Here I think support could be in the form of learning a different perspective and being open to growth.

So, is there a book community or is it something else?

I think the answer is that we are clusters of different communities interacting with each other pretty regularly. We are collectively something, but I think the community really occurs when you find your people. In these smaller groups formed from the larger whole is the community we are referencing. This is where DM chats, voice notes, or reminders about new releases, etc. that's the secret sauce in these smaller groups. If there is an actual bookish community some people only know me by my handle or what I chose to share. But then there are others who actually care about me beyond my post schedule and what I'm reading. These folks are my community, and I am thankful for them. In these smaller more intimate spaces is where the community truly exists. **If you haven't found that yet, I hope you do find it because it is a special connection to have.

What are your thoughts? Is the book community a community or is it something else?

Happy Reading!