Readers as protagonist of the book ecosystem

Abstract

The article states that the texts and media that are circulating on the Internet are open verbal units in which readers who are part of virtual communities such as Goodreads and Librotea, make hyper-interpretations on fan-fic sites, and create content on booktube. It introduces the silent revolution of the book in which readers are the protagonists, who in the traditional ecosystem of the book were regarded as distant, blurred subjects. Now, due essentially to the internet and social networks, they have gained more protagonism and have imposed themselves over the authors, and even over the texts. In this sense, the reading democratization, the emergence of other text types that have emerged with the Internet and social networks, the relations between readers and authors, and the “betrayal of the text” are the signs of the dizzying and noisy change that began with the new digital paradigm at the beginning of the 21st century. This anarchic democratization, without observance of canons or academic rules, manipulated in some cases, provides new challenges for literacy and for those who are teachers, publishers and reading mediators.