TikTok is Extremely Popular!
Social media platform TikTok has seen tremendous expansion in the United States, growing almost 800% between January 2018 and June 2020, to approximately 100 million users! TikTok is particularly popular among young people, with Pew Research indicating roughly 50% of 18-29 year olds use the service. Given its popularity, libraries are increasingly adopting TikTok in their marketing efforts. With that in mind, below are some good resources to get you started.
Resources
What Makes These Librarians TikTok?
Kelly Jensen provides an excellent how-to on getting started with TikTok, including some best practices, in this School Library Journal article.
8 TikTok Book Challenges and Trends to Join
When you’re engaged in social media marketing, you’re always seeking new content! In this article for BookRiot, Claire Handscombe shares some book-related ideas that are sure to inspire you!
The Rise of BookTok: meet the teen influencers pushing books up the charts
In this Guardian article, Alison Flood provides a nice overview of #BookTok, “a corner of TikTok devoted to reading.” The information in this article should be particularly helpful to YA librarians, as it explores both literature and teen audiences. Additionally, a number of the accounts can serve as case studies for successful marketing efforts.
TikTok is Taking the Book Industry by Storm, and Retailers are Taking Notice
Conor Murray takes a look at how the #BookTok phenomenon is impacting the publishing industry, in this NBC News article. Of particular note: brick and mortar bookstores are creating traditional book displays of titles that are trending on TikTok–an idea libraries may wish to emulate.
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