Ayşegül Rigato's "From Private to Public: #Bookstagram as a Safe Space for Romance Readers" looks at social media's impact on romance fiction communities. One of the most significant changes since Radway conducted her study is the impact of the internet. In the past few years, the Instagram hashtag #bookstagram, where readers of all genres can recommend and discuss their favorite books, has significantly impacted book publishing. It is crucial to look at social media as an influential force in romance consumption to observe how the demographic and the experience of reading romance have changed since Radway's pioneering research.
Rigato argues that pages dedicated to romance books on Instagram create a safe space for readers to build communities through their shared interests. Romance readership has become more public and a wider-reaching community with the impact of social media. The users of romance #bookstagram often "live react" as they are reading, share their favourite quotes, and generate discussions among their followers. For this study, Rigato examines approximately several romance #bookstagram pages, focusing on how the admins engage with the genre, review books, and utilize their public platform to create a safe space to share romance-related content. Through these shared spaces, romance readers make reading a communal experience and challenge the stigmas of romance fiction and its fans. (12)
From the introduction to section 1 of the volume: