TikTok needs to conduct surveillance, data collection and sell advertising.
Books do not need any of that. They do not even need electricity.
The former would seem far more brittle over time.
Lest we forget that the existence of "tech" companies, i.e., commercial websites that do not sell anything to their visitors, is a teeny-tiny blip in the history of information, almost indistinguishable unless one is right up close to it. We are literally living in that blip, so our perspective is, for lack of a better term, severly nearsighted.
I can't imagine that anyone would ever disagree that tiktok serves a more ephemeral usecase; I don't see what you get from comparing the two.
You would probably make your point more strongly comparing books to online libraries like JSTOR which contain huge amounts of valuable research but restrict its access.
"Will books keep mattering in an age where Instagram and TikTok are the glasses-stomping bullies shoving them aside for the contested space in people's brains?"
Books do not need any of that. They do not even need electricity.
The former would seem far more brittle over time.
Lest we forget that the existence of "tech" companies, i.e., commercial websites that do not sell anything to their visitors, is a teeny-tiny blip in the history of information, almost indistinguishable unless one is right up close to it. We are literally living in that blip, so our perspective is, for lack of a better term, severly nearsighted.