Watch Later Tag | How do you watch booktube?

This tag was inspired by ‪@awebofstories‬, who got me curious about the weird and wonderful ways we all organize what we want to watch here on booktube!
📚 The Prompt 📚
How do you choose and organize your booktube watching?
- Where do you browse videos? Home, Subscriptions, Channel pages, or somewhere else?
- Do you add videos to queue/watch later/playlists or just click and watch?
- What factors into your decisions to watch or add to playlist?
- What order do you watch? By date published, date added, by channel, type of video, or some other priority?
- Are there types or factors in videos that you skip?
✨ I Tag ✨
‪@awebofstories‬
‪@AaronReadABook‬
‪@BookChatWithPat8668‬
‪@anotherbibliophilereads‬
‪@MargaretPinard‬
‪@LunaciaBooks‬
‪@BandysBooks‬
‪@LiterateTexan‬
‪@mildrumpus‬
‪@jimsbooksreadingandstuff‬
‪@BernasBookishAdventures‬
‪@MsReadsAlot‬
‪@novelideea‬
‪@ObscureBookAdventures‬
‪@saintdonoghue‬
Find me on Goodreads - / readxbecca

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

I should really make use of the watch later queue. Thanks for the tag. Hello to the sleeping 🐱.

[@ReadBecca]

Sleepers appreciate being observed yet uninterrupted 😃 Using a queue definitely helps me, but hey if you can keep up in a way that works for you without it more power to you. The overwhelming amount of booktube videos to get to is too many to ever see it all regardless of how we organize or dont.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Yep, I'm with you on your watch later methodology! My subscription list has dwindled over the years, and I've become much pickier on the videos I watch, but I still use my watch later queue and pull from what people I'm subscribed to post. My favorites are also wrap-ups/Friday reads/book reviews.

[@ReadBecca]

Its nice to be in good company on methods, it has been very unexpected to hear how different peoples habits are. I was just thinking about how much drop off there has been in a lot of the folks we both were connected to for sooo long, the list just keeps going. It makes me sad, but also I hope they've moved onward and upward in things they enjoy. I've also got all those books they led me to as something to keep them around in a way that makes me happy.

[@Bryndisdaugtherofgunnar]

This is such a fun tag, loved your answers.

[@ReadBecca]

Thank you! 🥰

[@BandysBooks]

Thank you so much for tagging me! This is a really interesting tag. I mostly have video viewing anarchy, but I’ll have to do the tag so I can talk about it in more detail.

[@ReadBecca]

I am absolutely fascinated by the "anarchist browser" booktube watchers like you now based on the response to this! It wasn't even in my mind that would be so common, since to me I just have to have some organization and I'm absolutely a completionist. Look forward to hearing more specifics about how you do whenever you get to the tag!

[@ObscureBookAdventures]

Thanks for tagging me. This is a great tag.

[@ReadBecca]

Awesome, so glad you like it and look forward to your answers whenever you get to it!

[@awebofstories]

Yep, my method is overly convoluted. What is worse, I get ideas to make it EVEN MORE convoluted! And, in the meantime, I'm still behind with videos! Anyway, I love this and I will definitely do this tag!

[@ReadBecca]

I am absolutely gobsmacked by the response so far, it seems like a close to even split, or possibly even slight majority of people who just sit down and browse to watch! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... MASS HYSTERIA!

[@MargaretPinard]

Ooh, first time hearing that someone else goes in with the goal of supporting others in the community! Yay, Have you seen Bethanne's and my How Do You Booktube? Tag? It had one section that got people to explain this mysterious process in the mix, was pretty hilarious to see the differences! Thanks for the tag! 🥰

[@ReadBecca]

The adding stuff solely to give a like is something I had not really been conscious of what I was doing before this, there are certainly a couple of things I now realize I do as an artifact of trying to feed/starve the algorithm. I have not seen that collab tag before somehow! I found the og tag & playlist though, I love meta/self analysis, so I will definitely be watching some of those.

[@MargaretPinard]

@@ReadBecca Hooray! Yeah, it really is funny how, when given no direction, we all find our own paths to match our proclivities 😂

[@TheBookclectic]

I like it! I'm doing this one! And you are just looking really beautiful in your videos these days. I don't know what has changed for you, but you look happy and sparkly, and I have really enjoyed seeing it! ❤

[@ReadBecca]

Excellent, it will always be a happy outcome to get more videos from you, so I'm glad to have incited one 😈 That is so nice of you to say, I think in part there's just a contrast with how run down I was (and was looking. Editing the early BT Prize vlog at the worst of the kitchen days, I could really see it!) for months of work being done on the house and stressfully stuff before that. I'm finally coming out of it, and also trying to put more toward self care, so hearing that from you is very affirming I'm going the right direction.

[@TheBookclectic]

@@ReadBecca You must be! You're looking wonderful!!

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

Very interesting question....I don't use it because the way my brain works, I wouldn't go back to the queue, so I do a variety of seeing what's on the home page, clicking on my subscriptions and looking up particuarly subjects, tags and book events. I often put my favourite channels in the search bar too - most of my booktube I watch on my telly, and often search for those things on there. Great video, and an interesting discussion.

[@ReadBecca]

That is amazing to me, because I am pretty sure I remember you've said you have your own videos so much planned out ahead. I would have expected some complex organization and planning in watching too! Do you have to plan videos because otherwise they will get scattered because your mind is jumping every which way, and that's what plays into your mind just wanting to browse and follow whatever catches you?

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

@@ReadBecca the massive scheduling I do and getting ahead with the filming is pretty random - except for two ongoing projects on my channel. The Twilight Zone deep dive and the 100 album challenge. Those two projects are stacked up until August 2025 but the rest of the videos I have stacked up were filmed randomly because I fancied doing it that day - but I try not to put more than 3 videos on my channel each week. So it's quite natural and instinctive what I film....hope that makes sense haha

[@AaronReadABook]

I do exactly the same thing apart from the separate Friday Reads. I like the idea of liking things you aren't going to watch, I don't want unhauls or predicting videos generally.

[@ReadBecca]

Ooh yes, you are onto something there, predictions are mixed for me, it definitely depends on the topic. It's nice to know my methodology isn't completely off the wall!

[@paperback_cat]

I do the same with going through my subs and adding it to my watch later list BUT I only watch my watch later list from the bottom. Also, I only fill my watch later when I have "cleared" it (sometimes I leave some of the longer videos that require more dedicated time at the top until I do have that time). So that means I'm always watching the oldest videos. If I get really behind, I try to be more selective with what I'm adding to my watch later. Also, the good thing about watching from the bottom of the watch later queue is you don't have to worry about autoplay getting turned on and it jumping to the next video and disappearing a non-posted comment which used to always annoy me. If, by some miracle, I clear my watch later and my subs lists, then I go looking for things I've missed or new channels to watch :) it doesn't happen often lol

[@ReadBecca]

That is a brilliant tip, love it! Would not have thought to try that. I had autoplay off on my computer, but I almost never use it for watching anymore, and I don't think I can disable it on my tablet app, so I will be stealing your idea for sure. As far as comments, I've given up trying to get everything in a single comment unless it's a long video, I most often write and post multiple comments as I go lately cause I got sick of losing them 😁

[@toweringtbr]

I tried to binge my watch later queue in May because I knew I would be vlogging in June and only have a tiny amount to be watching. I like to watch timely videos first and I also prioritize small channels over bigger. Currently I have nearly 300 in my queue! I might be following too many people 😂

[@ReadBecca]

Hehe can never follow too many people! I definitely wind up that backlogged pretty often, I think the longer the backlog the more complex my order for watching becomes. I was doing so well on having massively caught up around end of May too, but things have been so busy I am starting to run the queue up again myself as well.

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

Thanks for tagging me. For my booktube viewing, I usually look at my subscriptions page. most of my subscriptions are to other Booktubers. If I am reading a particular book I will put it in the search bar to see who has been talking about the book, if anyone. I don't usually use the watch later selection. I am watching this because it appeared in my "mentions".

[@ReadBecca]

That is amazing! I think there's a pretty even split in comments so far who have some playlist/watch later, and people who just browse to videos and watch them, a total surprise to me. Your mentions must be a mile long because of all the tags you've made, do you think that impacts your viewing time a lot if you go to those first then I guess have limited time to get to other stuff?

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

@@ReadBecca I watch a lot of booktube, I rarely watch TV or films, most of my entertainment comes from reading books and watching KZbin.

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

Hi Becca. Well, this sounds interesting. Thank you for tagging me. I will do this one soon. I am not sure if I even know what some of these things are that you are talking about. "Watch Later Queue." Hmmm. I don't think I have any system at all--but I will have to really pay attention to what I do! Thanks again, Becca. Hope you're doing well.

[@ReadBecca]

WOW. The outcome so far is really unexpected to me that so many people don't use playlists or organize. I truly hadn't even thought to include explaining what I was talking about because it is such a standard in my mind! A handful of mobile app types don't have a watch later specific option, but I think most/all have the option to make playlists from your own dashboard, and there is a default private playlist labelled watch later. On computers or most apps in home/subscriptions there is either a button, 3 lines or 3 dots next to the videos that can be clicked for options like add to queue (which I think is computer only, and does not persist through closing the website), add to watch later, or add to playlist. There is also a "save" option usually somewhere below the video if you have gone to an individual video, that allows adding to any playlist you may have including watch later, if it just saves and doesn't give a choice of what playlist to add to, then you're on an app that doesn't support the custom playlists. So glad you made me rethink my preconceptions, I'm a fish in water I guess about this. 😁

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

@@ReadBecca well, you have a great system that works for you. I’ll try to find a way to describe what I do. You will probably be appalled!

[@JamesRuchala]

Im a big user of Watch Later. I hate when it gets over 20. Then I will go through an either watch or delete.

[@ReadBecca]

Wow! 20 sounds very on top of things to me. Are you usually watching same day videos ongoing or just very choosy about what you add to your list?

[@ellethinks]

Your booktube watching is so organized! I think I need to find a new method that works better for me! I'm always quite behind in booktube watching, which starts to make certain videos feel less relevant (month old tbrs). I watch a lot of videos that are non booktube so I'm wondering if having two separate playlists would help me.

[@ReadBecca]

That is an interesting element I hadn't thought much about, the mix of non-booktube watching and the ongoing booktube staples has to be a bit of a balance. I watch some, but comparatively little outside of booktube, it sounds overwhelming to think about juggling wider interests on YT. I'm definitely detail oriented and organized, so I find myself feeling I am missing out if I don't organize, and the more behind, the more complex managing it gets definitely - as oyu say the videos that become less relevant are so hard to weigh. DO you jsut wholesale remove some types like old tbrs you mentioned, or more complexity to it? I do skip like old readathon tbrs or yearly tbrs a lot, short monthly tbrs I'll often still watch cause I'm interested in what they were interested in even if it was previous... though that seems a little silly at times since many people then would talk about what they got to reading in another video, so maybe you've made me re-think whether I should do that....

[@ellethinks]

@@ReadBecca I do end up removing some videos if they feel less relevant, but honestly my watch later is completely out of control and I think I have hundreds of videos in it. 😂 If I get too overwhelmed by it I end up going straight to my subscription feed and watching stuff from there. A lot of my favorite videos are ones that stay relevant for longer though! My favorites to watch are wrap ups, recommendation lists, and thought experiments type ones (like the ten commandments of booktube).

[@GinaStanyerBooks]

I do no queue management. I just click on what appeals to me in my subscriptions page. I watch as much as I can but I let a lot go past me, just due to time. I never use a watch later because there is always more to watch and stuff just goes there to die for me. The only things I purposely skip are the "most disturbing" or "horror" specific videos LOL. I like some of those channels but I can't watch those videos.

[@ReadBecca]

Wow! That is a surprise, because from the outside you seem to be pretty up on what's happening around booktube consistently. more than I feel I am anyway with a constant queue of everything from my subscriptions. Absolutely the same about the Most extreme/disturbing, at least part because thats too much for me, and part because I hate clickbait!