TikTok’s new #BookTok feature lets you tag Penguin Random House titles in videos • TechCrunch

One of the most popular communities on TikTok is #BookTok, which is a made up of users who discuss books and share their recommendations with others. TikTok is aware that the community is a big part of its platform and notes that the #BookTok hashtag has more than 77 billion view globally. Now, the company is investing in the community by partnering with Penguin Random House to launch a new feature that lets users share and link to their favorite books.

Users can now link their favorite Penguin Random House books within their videos. When users click on the link, they will be directed to a dedicated page with details about the book, including a brief summary and a collection of other videos that linked the same book. With this feature, users will no longer have to open a separate app to search for details about a book if the creator has linked to it in their video. Also, given that the feature will surface other videos that linked the same book, it will be easier for users to see more reviews of the title from other #BookTok users.

In addition, users can save books to their “Favorites” tab on their profiles. This means you can save your “To be read” or “TBR” list virtually in the app, as you can use this feature to save titles that you’re interested in reading. Before the launch of this feature, if you saw a book that you were interested in, you would have to save or like the video that it was mentioned in. Of course, this can get tedious and complicated, which makes the new feature a welcome addition to the app.

TikTok users in the U.S. and the U.K. can now access the feature by clicking “Add Link” and searching for “Book” before posting their video. Users can tag any Penguin Random House book, and once the video is posted, the selected book will be featured above the captions.

#BookTok is a significant part of TikTok, so it’s not surprising that the platform is investing in the community. It’s worth noting that the new feature isn’t the first time that TikTok has invested in the #BookTok community, as the company launched the #BookTokChallenge earlier this summer to encourage people to discover new book and authors, and share their thoughts with others. TikTok also launched its #BookTok hub at the same time to drive book discoverability beyond the app.