Are you more digitally satisfied than socially satisfied? In a post-internet era the normalisation and incorporation of social validation feedback loops, which previously only existed within the parameters of a screen, create relationship values pre-determined by a sense of perceived satisfaction and instantaneous gain. The magnetic force of unlimited possibilities that the web seems to guarantee threatens our idea of physicality in regard to who we are as individuals and the way we relate to others in relationships. The commodification of ourselves and identities has relocated our understanding of intimacy and created excessive loneliness. As we find ourselves within an epidemic of loneliness Pia & Eva say “we see an incredible need for safe spaces to meet new people, make friends and socialise”. With Eva adding that ‘2 in 5 Australians are lonely’ reinforcing the demand for such spaces as To Be Read Club, especially considering that Gen Z, in their 20-30s, are meant to be in the most social era of their lives. As the desire for intimacy grows, many of us often get trapped in the ‘promise of the web’, a space in which no one needs ever suffer the pang of loneliness. The social web offers us a sense of an immediate network when in reality it is the exchanges of exposure and consumption and can only emulate a relationship and never the authenticity of connection. Our existence in an online space no longer supplementary to and facilitating of enriching encounters rather replacing relationship dynamics and crafting virtual identities that are an act of performance which aim to make the self consumable. “Online, almost everyone has an audience almost all the time” but we are often left lonely as performers that post show return to our unaltered, unaffected selves once the curtains draw closed…or we turn off our phones.

"We are living in a time where the internet is like air. It is nothing and everything and it is shaping us constantly.” — Maya Man

The internet is a funny and fickle thing that has changed the nature of human intent and de-emphasized many things we used to hold as the pillars of life, especially in a social and emotional sense. Our goings online have increased to the point many of us lead a screen dominated life lived online without which we could question what we have left to show for ourselves. We have built online mechanisms that now dictate a world dominated by an attention economy and a feeling of time scarcity due to the hyperspeed of capitalism and its employment of social media. The internet often robs us of the distinction between Time scarcity <> Time Infinity in a society “where attention is treated as a commodity.” Amongst our 10-second attention span it’s not hard to believe that ‘finding’ time to do an activity, such as reading, has become a task in and of itself amongst our hyperactive schedules as “reading fiction doesn’t fit into the idea of hustle culture”. Podcasts such as the Busy Girl Bookclub cater to the demands of capitalism by pre-reading books to review and tell you if it's ‘worth’ your time to read which robs readers of curiosity, joy and reinforces the idea of time scarcity. In an age of digital overload, reading offers individuals an art of digital detox, demanding extended periods of attention and a level of commitment not often asked of us in the rapid social media landscape. Eva notes the “power in slowing down and all the little things you can do to help your brain especially amongst hustle culture [where] it’s always go go go”.

In general, we engage with social media in a passive sense; checking in, doom scrolling and absorbing an endless wheel of unfettered information. This leaves us increasingly prone to social isolation compared to active use where social platforms are used to facilitate friendships and attend events. We find ourselves in a catch 22 of sorts - I hate it but I need it. We stick to social media even though we know it's bad for our health for fear of missing out, proving that we put up with “brain rot” in hopes of social inclusion on whatever level, be it virtual or physical. Wasting immeasurable hours that Pia points out "if people have the time to spend 4-5 hours on their phone a day, you’ll find the time to read”. Even in small doses such as on the commute, before bed or at breakfast, subbing out screen time for a book could be a reclamation of time unaffected by requirements of an ‘always on’ modern world. Especially, as offline becomes the new luxury and laws are imposed for us to maintain the right to disconnect.

Yet the act of reading is not exempt from the pull and allure of social media despite its analogue origins. Whilst the use of language and loss of language through TikTok may threaten the very essence of literature and all that it stands for #BookTok is a new trend that has spurred a reading resurgence. BookTok and celebrity book clubs have led to a sense of virality and brand building surrounding books with social media bringing in new audiences through visual appeal, community engagement, recommendations, reading challenges and events. With much discussion around the benefits of book virality increasing readership, the ‘commodification’ of reading has enhanced consumption habits and some flag concern regarding the judgement of books on marketing rather than literary merit, potentially funnelling readers into similar reading patterns. Book marketing has now crafted a book club business and an online community that is bolstered by seemingly authentic and relatable content, with an increase of BookTok influencers and Celebrity Book clubs from the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey, Kaia Gerber and Dua Lipa. A major factor that contributed to the success of Booktok and its widespread uptake is celebrity endorsement. Whilst many of us didn’t know who to seek comfort from amongst the throes of Covid, a few of us became increasingly obsessed and inspired by those who got to maintain the highest sense of normalcy; the rich and famous.

“Reading is so sexy” - Kaia Gerber

Their book clubs, with a notable female-skew, made reading ‘cool again’ and changed the idea of the ‘reader’ by making it as aspirational as fashion or beauty, especially with famous models such as Kaia Gerber and Emrata at the forefront. Alisson Wood believes that the models-as-bookfluencers dynamic is a result of societies growing acceptance of “beautiful women to also be smart, and for smart women to also be beautiful”. Their active endorsement of the activity hugely contributed to making reading feel ‘sexy’, an enhancement of readings’ already romantic notions. Spurring a sub-trend that amplifies the performative nature of our virtual identity merging into our organic selves, in that ‘being seen’ to be reading becomes more important than reading itself. As reader Luna Neshama comments “People who read are hot and smart and patient” and many who walk around with a book in their backpocket hope exactly to be perceived as such. Thus, books are the newest opportunity for brand building for individuals and authors alike but can virality damage an author or a book and change the nature of writing? The trend of Booktok plays into our excessive consumption habits and has commodified reading through trending books, online branding and suggestion lists based on genres or key words.

“It’s very much the same pool, it's all the same very contemporary fiction books with the occasional non fiction. I don't want to say it's a danger but it doesn't allow people to branch out or encourage them to” Eva identifies. Pre-deciding or giving people the same kind of limited choice you see with trends funnelling readers into channels where it is no longer a personal choice, so do we all end up reading the same thing? The virtual forum it operates within means many aren’t browsing libraries or bookshops producing a new era of readers who rather than following individual interests find themselves susceptible to social media influences of visual appeal, recommendations, reading challenges and digital community engagement. Now avid reader Grace Kopsiaftis comments on the noteworthy sway of #Booktok “I was definitely influenced almost solely by Booktok when I first started reading 4-5 years ago…my taste has developed a bit since then. Only a few of my recommendations come from Booktok now, a few more through Instagram book clubs”. Eva acknowledges that for readers like Grace she “applaud[s] BookTok… for encouraging people to read” but Pia and Eva uphold that social media is a key driver of the epidemic of loneliness and reading should offer a reprieve from the digital realm.

Using social media as a promotional platform is something Pia and Eva have to grapple with for To Be Read Club. Pia says it’s “an interesting paradox that we are running [To Be Read] through social media” but has to credit that through “the power of social media… a Tiktok got like 60K views and we blew up and [from there we] started growing.” Eva adds “social media is just such a weird wacky place…people can get really lost in their phones and become obsessed with social media. I hate saying this because social media is such a big part of us and the way that we communicate to our community”. They attempt to find balance by using their page as a form of redirection rather than entertainment. “We are not influencers and… we are very selective with what we put on our account...there is a very fine line and we do try to create a space where you can come, feel like a part of our community online and hopefully go away, buy a book and not sit and scroll.” To Be Read Club ultimately wants to “offer an opportunity to get off our phones…as we become hyper aware of social media, the time we spend on it and what it does to our brains”.

Reading just five minutes a day has the potential to improve your mental health by decreasing stress and giving you an increased sense of connection, reducing the risk of depression and feelings of isolation. As we see a reading renaissance amongst Gen Z, it is important to address not only its mental benefits but also what reading offers through engaging with books critically. Literature has the power to spark change through literary discussion and offer us a wealth of knowledge in culture, politics, philosophy, history, geography and almost anything imaginable. Reading outside of our bubble and further our comfort zone expands our horizons without us moving our feet. Additionally, books are often praised for the emotional learning they offer, in building empathy and compassion with Luna saying that it “makes [her] feel more connected on a global sense” as “it's a way of connecting with people maybe not in the act of reading itself but more in the aftermath”. Allowing us to “understand a lot about human psychology”, as Grace says, not only our own but that of others which we may become less confronted with the more we reduce face to face interactions and sink into our own echo chambers. Eva agrees that we “are able to relate to or learn from [books] in ways that you can’t learn from other forms of social media, TV shows or movies”. Books are lessons of sharing and listening and can upskill, inform and remind us that we are not so alone in our often individually experienced universal experiences. 

“You'll never be alone if you've got a book” - Al Pacino

The otherworldly nature of books present us with portals and windows into imagined worlds much to our delight or dislike. The intimacy and vulnerability we are offered through characters allows us to step into their shoes and get to know the nooks and crannies of a life unbeknownst to us. “A way to get away from the world is really important”, Eva says. Their immersive nature provides a sense of escapism as we are whisked away to another planet, timeline or pocket of the world. The increased demand for an escape from the world we are living in has pushed an upsurge in the sales of fantasy and speculative fiction sales for adults. As Grace says “I definitely read a lot within the fiction genre…I like to be transported when I read” and quoted the escapist effect of fiction books “is literally my favourite thing about reading. I don’t see it as trying to escape the world we’re living in, because that would be ridiculously naive and ignorant, but it definitely feels like a break from real life that I’m privileged to be able to take.” For many this desire bloomed through Covid when reading provided worlds larger than our own as many of us couldn't leave our four walls. Pia acknowledged that was exactly when she fell in love again, “in Covid... I had all the time in the world. I found a love for reading again...Finding the peace and solitude in reading was great.” Not isolated in her experience, the reading renaissance bloomed when Covid gave the lucky few the very thing many of us feel poor in today; Time.

Maintaining the rewarding habit of reading, for many, aided with post-pandemic loneliness and heightened IRL desires even down to the desire for physical books over digital books on the basis of tangibility, curation and visual appeal. This desire for a tangible connection and offline community is fuelling a resurgence of interest in book clubs. Nowadays, “Young people are combating loneliness by bonding over books IRL” as they provide an inexpensive social opportunity amidst a cost of living crisis and allow people to ‘get lost in another world and create conversation’. 

The communal and collaborative setting of such activities allows us to be part of something larger than ourselves and gain a sense of belonging, as the impact of Covid and remote working has exacerbated the epidemic of loneliness, digital sphere aside. Making friends as an adult can be difficult and with diminishing amounts of third spaces and regular social interaction, a place or meetup to return to creates a space to partake in a meaningful network. Luna attends a regular bookclub in Naarm and praises the “community building in terms of networking and learning more about people around me” as she recognises that books act as “vehicles for people to share things about themselves” which allows her to learn diverse perspectives outside of her bubble of consumption.

This is exactly what Pia & Eva hoped to achieve with To Be Read Club; “Starting a book club for us provided an ideal opportunity to bring people together over their shared love of books and to engage in enriching conversations with new friends”. Facilitating those enriching conversations give us the opportunity not only to gain insight from the literature but also the discussions that ensue. “Reading a book you learn another person's life experience…You’re learning from the way that they act and experience the world and you can come away from that differently. [We] might read the same book and have totally different opinions on it. Being able to debrief that with other people makes it so much more valuable as you’re able to unpack things that you wouldn't think about alone.” Pia was always an avid reader and only in 2023 when Eva refound the joys of reading abroad did the two look to start a bookclub. What originally started as an Instagram account for friends has blown up with now over 8K followers and consistently sold out events. To Be Read Bookclub is supported by a lovely community, who are spotlighted on their ‘Friends Who Read’ posts, a testament to the warm natured individuals that have grown to become friends.

To Be Read Club champions the value of community through providing a structured welcoming environment for readers to connect with like-minded people in Eora/Sydney and surrounds, “We like to create a really relaxed environment …a really safe space in our community… People come in with the mindset that they are going to meet someone new and are open to different opinions” Eva notes. By hosting monthly book discussions over drinks + snacks in locations around Sydney, To Be Read Club has cultivated a community of book loving people, with many returning attendees. “People crave community and connection, I think that is a big part of what To Be Read is” Eva adds. “There is such a need for this in Sydney, just everywhere in general; a need to connect with people and I think reading takes the edge off meeting someone new.” Book clubs, like To Be Read, support the formation of community and can offer a safe sober space, especially in Australia, where there is a social culture firmly centred around drinking. 

Reaching their one year anniversary, To Be Read Club has now evolved into a social club with book meetups, dinner series and a second event called book swap. Over the past year To Be Read Club has become “a really important social connection in our lives” for both Pia and Eva as they have learnt so much, not only as individuals, but as facilitators of a newfound third space. “I look back on the past year and I feel like it has been 5 years” Eva remarks as she laughs. “To Be Read has grown so much in the past year. Pia and I have learnt about ourselves and each other, what we’re doing, where we are going and our community.” Pia and Eva hope that from here on out people “make the time and effort to meet new people because you don't know how good it could be. It is really amazing to meet new people.”