As under-16s are locked out of major social media platforms, online book communities that helped many teens discover reading are disappearing too. What’s being lost, and what might replace it?

In a video address to the nation, timed with Australia’s world-first teen social media ban, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese encouraged under-16-year-olds newly unable to access social media to “ read that book”.

The ban excludes anyone under 16 from a range of social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

But social media communities like #BookTok and #Bookstagram, led by  teen literary influencers on TikTok and Instagram respectively, significantly influence what and how much teens read. #BookTok in particular is credited with “ driving sales and launching authors’ careers”, as one Guardian report put it. Women and girls aged 12-25 are BookTok’s  most enthusiastic users.

At the same time, Australians are reportedly reading  less than ever before: one in three Australian children are  unable to read proficiently. There’s a national conversation about how to get kids and teens reading more – but it seems to be missing something important.

If social media led to  a teen reading boom, what impact might the new social media ban have on teen reading?

Social media platforms generate enthusiasm not only about what to read, but the act of reading itself.

Arielle was 15 when she credited BookTube (YouTube’s reading community) with turning her into a reader. “If you are a young person like I am, and you enjoy reading, and you don’t have access to a book club, like I don’t have, BookTubers can feed that sense of community,”  she told the ABC last year.

Many teen accounts have now been deactivated. The remaining ones no longer signal their........

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