The post went viral by suggesting that the MZ generation's increased purchase of classic literature was primarily for social media flexing. This sparked a lively debate, with many Koreans offering alternative explanations like the influence of popular podcasts and the perceived decline in quality of new publications.
쇼츠 도파민에 절여진 MZ들은 사실 책이 좋아서 산게 아니라
인스타용으로 책에 취해 있는 나를 기록하고 찍으려고 산거라고 함 ㄷㄷ
🇰🇷 KOREAN REACTIONS 8
Please, even if it's just for show, buy a book and read it. I've lived long enough to see people even look down on buying books now, whoa.
Looking at these comments, I realize how scary algorithms are... If you look at the data: 1) It's a year-over-year increase, and 2) The Minumsa YouTube podcast is super hot right now. Books covered in popular topics there are what saw this much increase from last year. It's not about '허세 (heose)' or intellectual vanity being good or bad... It's just like 'Project Hail Mary' movie came out, so people bought the book. It's that kind of statistical data.
Gen Z knows that posing with books for '허세 (heose)' is lame. I barely see 10s or 20s doing it; it's more like 30s, 40s, or 50s. This isn't even a proper analysis, just 'oh, now even this is happening~' lol, you're really old.
No lie, it feels like more books are being published, but fewer are worth reading. All I see in my feed are things like 'I Married an Obsessive Psycho Duke,' 'Why I Saved 1.5 Billion Won in My 30s,' or 'Words to Heal Your Wounds.' Even when I click on something that looks like pure literature, it's often filled with weird ideologies trying to 'enlighten' the reader. It takes too much energy to find a satisfying book, so people just gravitate towards classics with proven quality.
Books are originally bought and read for '허세 (heose)' anyway. Then you get curious and read a little, and sometimes you end up reading the whole thing. What kind of bragging makes the listener feel less bad than bragging about reading books? haha.
These days, even if your intellectual level is a bit low, reading classic literature like that allows for naturally deeper interpretations through conversations with AI, which seems good. In the end, isn't reading anything at all a good thing?
I think this is because of 'Non-mainstream Invitation' (a popular segment of the Minumsa podcast). Go Kim Gan-ji, Heo-ki, Kim Min-kyung!
I haven't read a single one of those... but I'm currently borrowing and reading 'Kim Jong-il's Chef' from the library.