The Kindle Craze

How TikTok is Revolutionizing Reading Habits

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

The Amazon Kindle has been around for over a decade and has been one of the staples in e-readers since 2007. The first Kindle went on sale in November 2007 and sold out in minutes. Since then there have been several generations of the original Kindle as well as new product lines like the Paperwhite, Oasis, and Scribe.

In recent years, social media has created trends that become cultural phenomena and one of the most interesting has been the obsession with books and e-readers. TikTok is one platform that has exploded the Kindle craze and obsession. Users have started trends where they unbox their Kindle, decorate it with stickers, and even showcase their book library. It has become somewhat of an online book club.

I have always known about the Kindle but never really expressed interest in purchasing one or transitioning to an e-reader. It wasn’t until I discovered “Kindle-Tok and Book-Tok” that I started to become interested. I purchased my Kindle at the start of the summer and haven’t been able to put it down ever since.

These are a few reasons why TikTok is revolutionizing reading.

Speed Reading

One reason TikTok convinced me to purchase a Kindle was just how fast people were reading books on it. So many users were reading 30+ books a year on it and it didn’t feel like a chore or a break the bank.

The Kindle features a time stamp on the bottom left corner that can be customized to see how many minutes/hours are left in the chapter or left throughout the whole book. This features makes me just want to read forever. It is like binge-watching a Netflix show and timing exactly when you are going to finish or keep watching another episode before bed. To turn to the next page, you just tap the bottom right corner of the Kindle. These two features make speed reading so fast and enjoyable.

Kindle Unlimited

One reason I stopped reading traditional hardcover books was the hassle of going to a bookstore and having to pick up several books at once. I usually could only go on the weekends and the closest Barnes and Noble store to me is about 45 minutes away.