✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨
Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.
This week’s topic is:
Following the Reader
Prompts: What makes you want to follow a bookish account on social media? What makes you want to follow a book blog? Are you very discerning, or do you follow back whoever follows you? Do you prefer or find it easier to engage with other readers on one platform over the other (i.e. blogs vs. bookstagram or booktok)?
What makes you want to follow a bookish account on social media?
The main thing I notice when quickly scanning someone’s social media page is whether they share any of the same book interests as I do. I check if they talk about books that I have loved, have on my TBR, or have heard of and am considering checking out. Aside from similar book tastes, I also check whether their content is something I’d enjoy engaging with if it came up on my FYP and whether they’re still actively posting. They don’t have to post every day (as a sporadic social media poster myself, I get it), but I would like to follow creators that still post at least semi-regularly!
Another consideration is whether their content is already heavily engaged with and/or if they’re BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ creators. That’s not to say that I won’t follow someone’s page if they are big creators, but I also love engaging with smaller creators because I feel that’s more relatable to me as a small-time creator. Also, I want to diversify my feeds as much as I can and also diversify my reading lists, so doing the former helps me with the latter! 🥰
What makes you want to follow a book blog?
The main criteria for book blogs is the same as for social media: do we have the same or similar tastes? However, I think with book blogs, I also tend to follow bloggers whose voices I enjoy reading, as it’s longer form content. If I enjoy the way someone writes and I find their content entertaining, I will hit follow immediately. I love bloggers that write great discussion posts or thoughtful reviews but I also love bloggers that just making blogging look and feel like so much fun with fresh and inspiring content!
Are you very discerning, or do you follow back whoever follows you?
Despite feeling like I’m not very picky when it comes to following someone back, I also am not someone who immediately follows you back just because you follow me. I especially find it “eh” when someone follows me and then immediately asks for a follow back because then it feels less genuine that you want to follow me, and that you’re just trying to get follows. And good for you, if that’s the case, but that’s not the way for me. I’ll follow you back if your content vibes with me because everyone’s allowed to curate their space how they see fit and it’s your prerogative to choose what does and doesn’t fit! I mean, it’s not all that serious, but you know…
Do you prefer, or do you find it easier to engage with other readers on one platform over the other (i.e. blog vs bookstagram/booktok)?
Honestly, I don’t know anymore! 😂 I feel like I engage with the same readers on my blog and bookstagram and I honestly love that I can interact with fellow book lovers across platforms. I feel like it allows us to form better connections, but I also love to see people posting different styles and types of content on the various platforms. However, I feel like I’m in a bit of a limbo phase with both blogging and bookstagram. I’m more active than I used to be on bookstagram these days, however, I still feel that I don’t engage much in the way of commenting or messaging other readers. That’s probably because my content doesn’t get much reach, but maybe it’s also because I don’t engage through comments very often either? I feel the same goes for blogging these days in that I don’t engage with that many bloggers now, but I also don’t have as much time and energy to hop to all the blogs compared to before.
I do feel like it really depends where you decide to invest more of your time engaging though because when I first started posting about book content on bookstagram pre-my blogging days, I found it super easy to engage with other readers! Then when I started blogging, I found the same was true, even if at first I was more intimidated about commenting on other blog posts!
Don’t forget to check out the other bloggers who joined the discussion this week! 👇🏽
Elle @ Unwrapping Words
Abyssal Librarian
Lee @ Callie’s Tales
Yolanda @ Past Midnight
LaRonda @ Flying Paperbacks
Raj @ Worlds Unlike Our Own
If I’ve missed your post this week, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments, and I’ll add you to this week’s list of community posts ASAP!
What makes you want to follow a book blog or book content creator on social media?
dinipandareads 
Lot of people I follow don’t have the same taste: the majority being into fantasy and i’m not. I also look for a voice I find interresting, if what they had posted catch my attention in one way or another.
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As a still relative newbie to both blogging and bookstagram, I definitely feel like engagement is easier/better on the blogs – we’re not subject to an algorithm here, which means our posts always go to the people who have subscribed and elected to to be notified about them, which makes it easier to see the posts and read/engage with them!
I enjoy doing bookstagram in my small-scale way, but I really have no idea how people manage to make their follower count go up so fast – and at the end of the day more followers does tend to equal more engagement!
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I follow based on the books they are posting about. If we have a similar taste in books, then I follow. I do check out the account of every one that follows me but I only follow back based on the books they post about.
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I typically follow bloggers that like the same books. It makes it so much easier to form connections when we are shouting about the same books! I also think vibes are important too. I do also follow blogs that I vibe with and have connections through TTT or WWW. I have made more of a friendly connection vs. strictly book connection. I have found the rules are different for blogging and bookstagram, which is normal since they are different spaces. Another thing that I have had to take into account is a person’s humanity viewpoint. I HATE that this is a thing, but things have become so grossly intense in that sphere, that I can’t have hateful people in my spaces anymore. I’ve got enough of that with family. LOL
I have spent a lot more time on my bookstagram because I love the creativity with books. I am a creative person and not the best written person. If that makes any sense. It takes me much longer to write a blog post than it does to create a post on instagram with some of my books. I have found more people in my general area through bookstagram too. It’s really cool and exciting since we go to some of the same book stores and book events.
In the grand scheme of things, I have declined rapidly when it comes to blog hopping or reaching out on either platform. I just don’t have the time I used to have.
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[…] Let’s Talk Bookish: Following the Reader […]
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Yes to BIPOC and LGBT+ creators! Just following people with diverse viewpoints and opinions, I feel it helps me curate my reading taste as well as being relatable. I also didnt realize how having a distinct voice to your content really matters to me, the individuality really locks me in!
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I love how you’ve broken this down — especially your point about curating your feed to reflect both your reading tastes and the kind of creators you want to support. I totally agree that smaller creators often feel more relatable, and I also really connect with what you said about enjoying someone’s voice on their blog. That makes such a difference when it comes to longer-form content!
I recently wrote a post sharing my own thoughts on following bookish accounts and blogs, and some of the ways I try to connect with other readers across platforms. You can check it out here: https://bookfllwerpath.art/2025/09/14/12-sept_following-the-reader-lets-talk-bookish/
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I can relate to your way of choosing who to follow as I similarly check if we have overlapping tastes. If they post about books I don’t care about I won’t follow but if they post about books I’ve never heard of and seem interesting then I find it’s a good way to expand my horizons a bit. But then I check to see if they have any obvious red flags too before clicking that follow.
Additionally, I agree about preferring to engage with smaller creators because I’m there for the community aspect not necessarily a parasocial relationship. This was a very interesting topic and I loved your thoughtful answers 🖤 And I will say that when I first started blogging I felt intimidated to comment on other’s posts too but now I don’t because of creators like you who are so welcoming so thank you for that.
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