The internet can be a scary place. It's a breeding ground for peculiar addictions and subcultures that leech away any possibility for normalcy. But it can also be quite wholesome, allowing people from various social groups and with different identities to interact and relate with one another. That being said, the interactions between Booktok and Bikertok are anything but wholesome.
For those of you who aren't updated on new TikTok lore, the readers and bikers of the app have come together to create content that will send any sane person down a rabbit hole of insanity.
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What? 😀
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Yes, that is a man... tied up. Your eyes are, in fact, correct. But to get into the crux of this freak show one needs to delve into a community within booktok, specifically the books they read.
Dark romance books have divided the reading community into two hemispheres. You either like 'em or you don't. And for those of you sweet, innocent children who have never seen or touched a dark romance novel in your life, consider yourselves lucky. I'm not typically the kind of person who shames people for their taste in novels, but how can I not when some of these novels have content warnings that need content warnings.
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Not only is this trigger warnings list triggering, it also feeds into controversial kinks that are commonplace amongst those struggling with hypersexuality. Feeding into this forces a lot of behaviour to be normalized. And oftentimes, things that fall under the "nonconsensual" trope are behaviours that should not be normalized. This not only leads to harmful behaviours in real life but also eradicates a person's ability to empathize with victims on topics like sexual violence and rape. Let's not forget that hypersexuality often has the tendency to foce a person to escalate with their behaviour. And an addiction to these kinds of novels is very much indicative of hypersexuality.
But where exacty does bikertok come into this?
Bikertok has always had a small demographic whose content consists purely of thirst-traps. But when they found out that a section of the booktok girlies had not yet grown out of their Wattpad phase, they went crazy. And by crazy, I mean jaw-droppingly insane. The resulting tiktoks would send any god-loving, law-abiding citizen into a self-induced coma.
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I am afraid 😀
Now, not only does a lot of this content immitate literal crimes (kidnapping, stalking, literally assaulting and etc.) but what's even more concerning is that the comments are, for whatever reason, positive- save for the one sane person asking "Why is no one hating?".
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I'm calling the police.
But jokes aside, in November of last year, booktok women began swarming a 16-year-old bike enthusiast (whose name or ID I will not be mentioning) with comments about smut. The teenager showed off his collection of young adult fiction novels, to which the women of booktok responded with a flurry of comments asking him to read books like Haunting Adeline (A book notoriously known for its extremely inappropriate and traumatic scenes depicting, rather vividly, sexual violence).
It's genuininely one of the most vile things I have witnessed on the internet. There is a fine line between harmless content and literal harassment. And leaving comments recommending erotic novels in the comment section of a minor's video is not even close to being on the right side of that line.
However, the comments and reactions of people under that post recieved reasonable backlash, shaming them for their behaviour. But it's unfortunate to note that the interactions between bikers and readers on TikTok have not yet died down- though now a lot of members from both communities have started voicing their concerns and displeasure about this ongoing "trend".
As this rant is coming to its end, I find the need to remind everyone that you are free to post whatever you feel like on the internet (Unless its damaging to certain demographics or people). It is well within your right. But posting content on the internet means you're also opening yourself up for criticism from people who might find your content distasteful. So, this is me voicing out my displeasure. 🙂
Feel free to let me know if there's anything you maybe disagree or agree with!
