BookTok Brain Rot

‘Brain rot’ is defined by Oxford as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterised as likely to lead to such deterioration”.

As you're reading an article by me, not Oxford, my definition of 'brain rot' would be the feeling you get after consuming lots of (questionable) content and reaching the conclusion it is actually affecting your brain, mood and general wellbeing.

Spending lots of time online comes with consequences. One of which is getting brain rot. It can happen to anyone consuming content, regardless of the niche, including us BookTok girlies.

What is BookTok, you ask? It is a niche, specific community on TikTok whose obsession is (shockingly) books. And brain rot is hitting us hard.

I know it seems controversial, like, are books making your brain rot? And the answer would be yes. This is due to 1- the kind of books we're reading, and 2 - the number of books we are reading.

On the books we are reading:

First, if you know, you know. If you don't, I won't be discussing it now, because you are not ready for this conversation, and to be honest, neither am I. What I will say is that books are books, literature is literature, and art is art.

Comparing different pieces is neither fair nor realistic. Meaning: There is not one book or genre or artwork better than another, simply because comparing them is impossible. Attributing monetary value to pieces is an economic question, not an artistic one.

Now that we have made it clear we are not judging the books we are reading in any way, especially not into good or bad categories, we can go to step 2, which is realising that regardless of the kind of book, it can, and probably will, affect our mental health, which is also related to how many of those books we are reading.

On how many books we are reading:

Many of us went back to reading as a pandemic escape, but it quickly became a habit of ours.

While reading is at first glance an innocent way of escaping reality, which in theory brings no harm to ourselves or others, the situation can change once we are talking about reading hundreds of books a year.

Regardless of the kind of habit we are talking about, the healthiest thing to do is probably to find some source of balance.

Reading is consuming. And overconsumption is also about books, and it is also about content. And it has consequences, both for our planet and for ourselves.

My personal BookTokBrainRot experience:

As a teenager, I used to read a lot (like, for fun). However, when I got into University and joined the workforce, reading became a way to acquire knowledge and develop myself and my skills.

A few years back, I was dealing with lots of anxiety and trying to find a healthy way to cope. I picked up reading for fun again. It started with Anne of Green Gables. I read the whole series (except for the last book) more than once. It gave me a sense of safety and comfort I was missing in my real life.

After that, I decided to give this one book that kept popping up on my TikTok a chance. And the rest is history. I fell into the BookTok rabbit hole and never found the way out again. Not only am I experiencing books, but I am also part of a community, living a collective experience.

Last year, I read over 130 books. Actually, reading is not the best word, considering I heard all of them online. That is almost one book every 3 days.

In January, when I realised I had consumed over 130 books in 2024, a red flag started to appear on the horizon. But it was kind of far away, which meant it was easy to ignore. It's May, the red flag is now everywhere, and I can't ignore it anymore.

This article is not an attempt to criticise the community, or to offer solutions (which I do not have). It is an attempt to talk about it. So let's talk about it.