New era: When consumerism meets literature 

Looking back, outdated trends often make us feel sheepish, but what about trends centered on

intellectualism?

The new aesthetic is to be a reader. Beautiful shelves, tall stacks of books and annotations

galore. As it did with fashion, literature has become victim to perhaps one of humanities most

collective error: the consumerist mindset. In an era of smartphones where we can order just

about anything, anywhere, anytime, it can become incredibly easy to get lost and not know

where to begin, or continue, in your reading journey without falling prey to the consumerist

mindset of the newfound age we are in: fast literature.

With social media such as TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest serving as great platforms for quick

and interesting literary recommendations— their 15-second nature captures our attention

relatively fast. But does the short time frame not water down the book in its entirety? Given

social media is the new marketing platform for authors, abiding by trends to pique the reader’s

interest is understandable, but it also gives the readers a false sense of ‘plot’. The reduction of

stories to tropes became a common method to create curiosity without the subsequent

disappointment when a book does not reach the audience’s expectations. It aligns an author’s

work with something that is already popular, and in doing so, associating their work with

successful and entertaining promises that ensure a purchase.

However, when authors use these tropes as the basis for their next work, it limits the scope of

their story to a cookie-cutter mold, suppressing their creativity. Along with the fact that social

media induces a sense of urgency (as seen in the recommendation of posting up to twice a

day!) fast literature was given stable pillars with which to arise. Brand-new books come out

every few months, entire series are finished within two years, and so on. Although impressive,

some argue the quality of the literature produced as a result has declined.

How do we maintain our love for reading in an ever-changing world? 

As simplistic as this may seem, the best thing to be done is to limit your media consumption purely to what you wish to consume. If you let yourself be swayed to read something based on a trope or quote without further knowledge of the themes the book explores, you are more likely to find your expectations unmet. If you maintain a solid foundation of what themes you want to read about, what sort of stories you wish to see develop, what relationships you want being broken apart, the ‘fast literature’ mindset will leave you soon. You will no longer be bound by the shackles of your TBR or by the quota of books you want to read this year. Instead, you will find yourself enjoying the worlds these books have created. Amazing stories are being released every day. Explore all the genres available, all the wonderful arising authors, and who knows? Maybe you will find exactly what you didn’t know you were looking for.