“Sorry, it’s sold out.”
On a Saturday evening in one of the UAE's largest bookshops, a teenager waits at the customer service desk with the “Favourites” folder on TikTok open on her phone. Scrolling through several book recommendation videos, she asks the employee if certain titles are in stock.
Unfortunately, many are not.
With a sigh and a quick scribble of her number on a piece of paper, the girl thanks the attendant and walks back to join her friends, who are sitting on the floor in a corner of the shop.
Sometimes we get special requests to order certain books because they are new and have become popular on TikTok
Roma Masilungan
Piles of other popular books on TikTok are scattered around them as they discuss which ones are worth buying.
The queue at the payment counter has grown to more than 15 people by the time the teenagers choose books.
“It is all because of BookTok,” Borders bookstore employee Roma Masilungan says.
A sub-community, or niche, on the app TikTok, called BookTok, focuses on videos relating to books and literature. These include recommendations, reviews, reactions, skits, memes, fan casts and much more. The hashtag currently has 47.5 billion views, with more than 83,000 from the UAE.
Ms Masilungan has been working in customer service at Borders for about six years and says there have been many young people specifically inquiring about popular books on the app since 2020.
“Sometimes we get special requests to order certain books because they are new and have become popular on TikTok.”
She has also noticed that this trend is most common among teenage girls and particularly about books written by Colleen Hoover.
It Ends With Us, for instance, is Hoover’s most viral book and has been on the bestseller lists at Kinokuniya and Borders since 2021.
A powerful tool for marketing
BookTok inquiries have became so frequent that it is common for bookshops to create entire shelves and several display tables at the entrance of the store dedicated to books trending on the app, making it easier for customers to find them.
"The book-related videos are great for marketing to young people,” says Aizza Quinones, who has been working at Borders for more than seven years.
“We usually place bulk orders for these books often because they sell very quickly.”
So, what converts a viewer on TikTok into a buyer and reader at a bookstore?
Going with the crowd is one of the main factors that affects this, says Suraksha Mukesh, 19, a frequent reader and UAE resident.
“People, especially young girls, want to conform to the norms and the trends on TikTok,” she says.
Ms Mukesh believes the "it girl" trend is a good example of this, where female creators post videos of the books they read along with their aesthetically desirable lifestyle.
If her followers want to be like her, then they will want to read the same books, she says.
Ms Mukesh says she is influenced by them as well and she finds herself buying books about self help or feminism solely because her favourite BookTokkers are reading them.
Targeted audience
Moreover, the “For You” page on TikTok is highly personalised for each user, so there is an increased sense of intimacy and trust between audience and creator in comparison with platforms such as the Amazon-owned book catalogue site “Goodreads”.
Ms Mukesh says she feels the creators are speaking to her directly when they recommend books.
“I’ve never intentionally searched up book-related videos but it is as if the creators know what type of books I would like.”
As a result, she feels there is a corner of TikTok that is a community of readers, who share their opinions in the comments section, relate to each other and together gush over the books they love.
“I even joined a [chat room] that I found on TikTok with readers and we would all talk about our favourite books or recommend some to each other.
“I don’t think I will ever go back to traditionally [researching] books. The list of book recommendations from TikTok in my notes app is ever-growing and will remain with me for ever.”
Lubna Abdul Nazar, 26, echoes the sentiments.
As a BookTok creator, she has noticed many people engaging with her content often, having conversations in her comment section, and even going out to buy the books she recommends after they see her videos.
When checking her analytics, Ms Abdul Nazar has also realised that her most viral videos are short, funny ones about book jokes; however, her most saved and shared are the longer videos, such as book reviews.
“I feel like I can connect with my audience more if I am talking to them directly. These are the videos I personally love to watch as well.”
Avid reader Mohaddesa Meherali, 19, agrees with this.
She says the most attractive videos are those that have a summary of the book as well as how the creator honestly feels about it, without the unnecessary hype.
“I also think videos on books written by authors of colour, or those that contain diverse characters are very likely to be popular on TikTok,” she says.
Ms Meherali says the BookTokkers on the platform “are often critical readers and quickly spot hidden biases or problematic ideas”. However, they also give the authors credit where credit is due, which she finds to be a good balance.
“BookTok has made some great progress in helping readers diversify their shelves. I took a step back and thought, ‘that's a lot of white authors on my shelf’.”
Ms Abdul Nazar wears a hijab and, as a Muslim creator, thinks she has a role to play in adding to this diversity on BookTok.
She enjoys reading and sharing books with Muslim leads and a positive representation of Islam.
“People in the region are able to relate to me more and therefore be more trusting of my recommendations.”
How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
