Despite being uncommon for the past couple of years, reading books has made a remarkable comeback as a trend among high school students. The trend is unsurprisingly about more than just flipping through pages and being exposed to new stories and information, but also about the lifestyle that comes with it.

Many factors contributed to the growth of this trend, with social media playing a significant role. Social media is a part of the average high school student’s day. Students constantly check their phones, causing trends to gain popularity faster. Reading is undoubtedly one of the major trends that has appeared lately. Because of the wide variety of content available on social media, there are plenty of book recommendations and reviews for anyone looking for something new to read. Due to the significant increase, there are many new communities specifically for books on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 

“[Social media] exposed people to a lot of different texts through different platforms like Instagram or YouTube,” FHS junior Nikhil Prabhakar said. “That inspired other people to go and look at reading a little bit more in depth.” 

Social media influencers including celebrities, authors and book bloggers use their platform to recommend books, turning reading into a trendy activity. People view influencers as relatable and trustworthy making them more likely to adopt trends.

“[The reading trend] is a pretty good thing that’s happening, one of the benefits of social media,” FHS junior Aarav Rathi said. 

Reading has also become a visually appealing trend. People post and share crafted photos of books, unique book covers and aesthetic reading spots, making reading more than simply reading a book, but also about the surroundings of where the reading happens. 

There are a lot more book influences, many of which began in the pandemic, which leads to the following topic of how even though COVID-19 is considered “old”, it remains to have an influence on several aspects of today’s society. The reading trend is one of the activities that sparked as a result of the pandemic. The lockdowns, which resulted in a long period of social isolation, made reading a significant part of people’s daily lives.

“People had a lot more free time during the pandemic,” Prabhakar said. “So, they could experiment with doing some other stuff like reading.”

Reading books can also be a stress reliever from stress caused by the pandemic. As remote learning resources became more widespread, there were more resources available, such as e-books and audiobooks, which provided a limitless variety of book genres and authors. 

Overall, people seem to like the new trend. And the future of this is showing no signs of slowing down and is definitely here to stay.