You might or might not have heard of the recent little tiff between some book bloggers and booktubers. If you haven’t, here‘s the breakdown of events over at Cuddlebuggery. I usually stay out of these dramas in the bookish community but since I’ve been book blogging for over 2 years, have done filming for an entire semester in school, and will be booktube-ing once I get a proper camera, I felt that I should establish the fact that book blogging and booktube-ing are completely different ways for booknerds to express their love for books but the goal’s the same: to share the joy of reading.
It was appalling that some of the book bloggers involved suggested booktubers don’t really review books. Firstly, it’s their channel; they can do whatever they like with it. Secondly, booktubers’ style of reviewing is definitely from that of book bloggers but that doesn’t mean one is inferior to the other. Video making is an entire separate art form when compared to blogging so likewise, you can’t expect book bloggers and booktubers to review the same way.
The difference between booktubers and book bloggers also give the bookish community more ways to connect with a variety of people. Some people prefer to watch videos than read blog posts and vice versa. So shouldn’t this be a positive thing instead? If everyone in the bookish community was the same, it would be pretty dull.
As for the fact that some booktubers get paid by publishers while most book bloggers don’t, what’s wrong with getting paid for content you’ve created? If you don’t like sponsored posts or videos, all you have to do is avoid them because they are here to stay. Sponsored content also doesn’t necessarily mean the booktuber is promoting something s/he doesn’t actually like. After all, they get to pick which offers they accept and decline. Book bloggers could also try to be more open to charging for their services, it’s ethically and legally acceptable, you know. ;)
The point is, both book bloggers and booktubers work hard to make unique content in order to connect with likeminded viewers and invite more people into our awesome world of fictional lands and characters. We’re on the Internet because we want to share our love for everything bookish on a platform we’re comfortable with. So why not focus on all that instead of trying to put each other down?
hOw do you feel about such dramas in the bookish community?
A Page of Heaven 
I don’t know if it’s because I’m not usually around drama in my life, but I’ve noticed myself that there is quite a lot of drama in the book blogging community (I watch very few book tubers, so I can’t really speak from that perspective). I feel like some of them like the one you mentioned above is important to discuss and address, especially when it comes to serious accusations such as plagiarism.
But in my opinion, I think sometimes things can blow up too much. Like say someone states their opinion about a certain topic on their own blog, and then gets criticized for it. I think people downing or dogging bloggers/people for their own opinions can get a bit harsh at times and doesn’t build positivity in the blogging community. I’m not saying that things can’t be discussed by people, but I recognize that some of the discussions turn into personal bashing that doesn’t always help the situation. I also think that subtweeting can be a major problem in this community as well that I hope people will recognize in the future.
Good thoughts on the topic, Adelena!
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Take note that I’m NOT saying that the above drama was taken out of context or dealt with appropriately. I meant general dramas in the bookish community. :)
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I totally get it! I guess many of us in the bookish community needs to learn to turn a blind eye at certain times and that a little politeness wouldn’t do any harm. Basically, we have much to learn from the Amity faction in Divergent, haha!
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