2025
Everyone’s in a Book Club...
(Except Me) What the rise of book clubs says about the future of digital life.
Everywhere you look lately—on TikTok, Instagram, even LinkedIn—someone is either joining a book club, or hosting one. People are sharing annotated pages, posting book reviews on their socials, meeting up in small bookstores, or simply sitting together in silence with a book in hand. The trend isn’t niche—it’s swelling.
On #BookTok, the hashtag has amassed billions of views. Themed book clubs—especially those centered around identity and shared values—are growing fast. According to CNN, queer book club events saw an 82% rise in attendance in 2023. Even silent book clubs—where people read together in cafés and bars without discussion—have seen a 23% increase.
This isn’t just a literary renaissance. It’s a cultural signal. As the digital world accelerates, more people are turning to analog experiences that offer depth, calm, and connection. It raises a timely question: Is the rise of book clubs really about books—or about something digital life can’t currently offer?
The Quiet Backlash: Digital Exhaustion
While social media continues to dominate, many are experiencing what can only be called digital fatigue. The platforms we once loved for discovery and entertainment now feel like endless noise. As NPR notes:
“The immersion online is always in some ways shadowed… by this constant reminder that we should be doing something else… this almost incessant feeling of ‘I should go faster,’ instead of ‘I should immerse myself.’”
We scroll past books we want to read, places we want to visit, conversations we want to join. But we rarely stop. We’re always adjacent to meaning, but never quite inside it.
This exhaustion isn’t just emotional—it’s structural. Our attention is pulled in a hundred directions by design. Feeds update infinitely. Stories expire in 24 hours. Slowness doesn’t scale, so it’s often left out of the equation.
A Growing Skepticism Toward Big Tech
At the same time, public sentiment toward major tech players is shifting. Amazon is often seen as a threat to small business and local culture. Meta is synonymous with surveillance capitalism. Even OpenAI, once heralded as a frontier of creativity, now carries weighty debates about ethics, bias, and creative displacement.
People are becoming more cautious. Not anti-tech—but more mindful of what they’re giving up in exchange for convenience and speed.
So What Can Brands Learn?
This moment presents a powerful opportunity for digital-first companies—not to react defensively, but to evolve deliberately. If book clubs, silent reading circles, and at-home supper clubs are on the rise, what they reflect is not nostalgia, but a desire for presence.
And that’s a design challenge. Here’s what I think brands can do to stay relevant
1. Design for Presence not FOMO
Consider how your product or service allows users to slow down or be immersed. Resist the urge to fill every moment. Think of how you can break the 4th wall to really feel present. Could this be a possible hint at a major come back for print collaterals or keepsakes? Experience stores or pop up events?
2. Anchor in the Physical, but build Digital Bridges
Don’t isolate brand experiences. Design for flow between offline and online touchpoints. Omni-channel does not have to be restricted to 3 different screens. A product sampled in-store could spark a digital journey. A digital campaign might lead to a real-world moment of discovery. Partner with local establishments like libraries, cafés, and community spaces. Create hybrid experiences that start offline and extend online—not the other way around. Show up where trust already exists.
3. Elevate Local and Intimate Touchpoints
Create communities without overtaking them. As people are gravitating towards smaller, human-first interactions—but that doesn’t mean brands should insert themselves into every corner of community life. Dropping into tight-knit spaces (think: Facebook groups, niche forums, hobby circles) without care can backfire, risking distrust or total disengagement.
Take the example of Glow Recipe, the Korean skin care brand, which has their Glow Gang. An invite only page where beauty and skin care enthusiasts share their hacks and love for the brand’s products. Broadcast channels are another great way to think of extending an invitation!! It's not about reach—it's about resonance.
4. Respect Autonomy and Time
Design for choice, quiet, and opt-in depth—not default engagement. We might have to reconsider how we identify and define some of the current metrics. Instead of measuring “stickiness” or time spent, consider more human-centric metrics: Did the user feel seen? Did they return with intention? Did the experience inspire action, reflection, or trust? Engagement isn’t just about frequency—it’s about emotional quality, relevance, and the freedom to step away and come back when it matters.
5. Make Trust Tangible
Transparency isn't just policy—it's experience design. People are tired of being mined for data. Be clear about what you collect and why. Offer real choices. Ethical design is not just good practice—it’s good business now.
Slowness Is the New Innovation
The resurgence of book clubs and local reading events isn’t a retreat from tech—it’s a critique of how tech currently works. It’s a push for tools, spaces, and systems that leave people feeling more grounded—not more scattered.
For brands and builders, this is the moment to ask:
Are we creating experiences that deepen attention, or divide it? Are we building for more connection—or just more consumption?
The next era of digital innovation may not be about what moves fastest. It might be about what helps us feel most present.