Hello boundlings! Lately, I've been pondering the idea of what it means to be a reader in a community of readers (like Pagebound). Reading can be such a solitary activity and it is a joy to see how that activity can be used to bring people together. I think most of us here acknowledge that community is actively built and maintained; it is a place where we can connect, support, and uplift each other. However, I do wonder if bookish spaces (especially online) can become over-relied upon.

I think there is a lot of room for misinterpretation here, so let me outline what I am specifically referring to: As more users join PB, I feel I see more club posts along the lines of "which of these five books should I read next," "should I do this," "should I do that," and so on (with no other information, and no one truly engaging with each other---they could be Instagram polls, essentially). I find a lot of these posts disconcerting because they often read as though the user isn't looking for advice, but rather explicit decision-making by others. I feel like this defeats the purpose of being in a reading community, but also of being a reader in the first place. Reading is such a major channel for autonomy, intentionality, and expression---I feel like those things are taken away when relying on others to make every decision about one's reading journey. (To be clear, I'm not referring to advice/rec posts in general, nor any specific users/posts. Just a prevailing trend.)

I don't want to seem like I'm trying to tell people how to act in a community space---that is not my intention. If this posts comes off that way, please let me know and I will reevaluate my words.

Ultimately, my questions are,

• How do you feel about these types of posts? (Am I reading too much into them?)
• What does reading, as part of a community, look like to you?
• How did you find confidence in your decision-making as a reader?

I do know it takes time and experience to develop this aforementioned confidence; perhaps these posts are a new way of doing that in the age of technology. I'd love to know your thoughts.