It is a strange combination. On the one hand, there are the intensive research requirements of tertiary education and academics, the long hours bent over a notebook, a cup of coffee steaming as the clock strikes midnight, and a near feverish drive to learn more, study more, understand more. On the other hand, we have bookish social media, where the environment is a mixture of casual commentary among friends and algorithm-supported trends, both of which hinge on the participation of tech-savvy readers looking to engage in a shared interest and divulge to their book besties the most amazing five-star book they’ve ever come across, or more specifically, the MMC with dark hair, a smouldering gaze and a mysterious backstory that hasn’t left their mind in months. They come across as oil and water, two different spheres of knowledge that don’t want anything to do with each other, and in a way that’s what bookish social media started off as – a way for the average reader to gush about books they like that aren’t literary classics or highbrow literature that the academics were studying.

I have always wanted to look into bookish social media with an academic lens, furthering the video essays that come across my YouTube dashboard and comparing the stats and focused research to my local experiences. The centre of Bookstagram, BookTok and BookTube is far from New Zealand, and I don’t think it’s unfair to say it is in the US. Not only are the big-name authors and publishing houses based in the US, but the spheres of publishing and bookish social media are largely pushed by the US market. Outside of basic accessibility differences and the fact that the US can publish more books a year than New Zealand can in a lifetime, there are clear differences in representation and cultural issues.

Through my PhD, I will analyse the complex issues that the bookish community has faced over the last ten years and compare them to the experiences of those in New Zealand. These will include the voices of New Zealand bookish content creators, New Zealand authors and aspiring writers, literary agents, and publishing representatives. There are many areas to look into, including ageism, sexism, racism, homophobia, the representation of LGBTQ+ authors, characters and topics, elitism, the media depiction of bookish social media, the lack of representation of “less appealing locations and cultures”, the pressures of being on bookish social media, how the algorithm and trends impact creators, and what impact bookish social media has on the stories told, the stories that get popular, and the stories that trend. This is only the surface of it.

I’m still in the early stages as there are details that need to be ironed out, and the trajectory of my work could very well change as the research carries me down rabbit holes and dead-end streets, all of which could take months to work backwards from to get back on track. I’m thankful to have a supportive academic supervisory team around me, others journeying through their first few months of their PhDs and those who started the same day as me, and senior PhD students with all the knowledge and experience of their first year researching and presenting I can get guidance from. Time will tell where I go and what my official research will be, but I am excited for every step of the journey and can’t wait to share it with you all in small doses. I don’t want to bore you with research, even if the updates won’t be so different from my previous discussion posts. This is a book blog, and I want to share my book reviews and experiences with you all.

As part of my PhD beginnings, I am taking a qualitative research methodologies paper (it’s as intense as it sounds) and I think I’m more nervous for that paper than the PhD itself. Part of it is because I haven’t been back in a classroom since COVID procedures were still at the forefront of university life. The other part is that while this is a postgrad paper, I am a little apprehensive about making friends and retaining that academic language and know-how after so long. My hope is that I don’t stick out like a sore thumb trying to work my way through the paper.