Why Letterboxd Is The Only Good Social Media App Left
Chances are, if you’re the type of person who already has an idea of who will be nominated for next years Oscars, or if you’ve already seen latest release Anora, you’ve heard of Letterboxd. When I mention the app to people, invariably the reaction goes one of two ways – either full-on enthusiasm, instantly demanding we connect on the platform, or a completely blank stare. There’s no middle ground, no one has heard of it and isn’t hooked
After chatting to someone at the pub a couple of months ago, rather than swapping phone numbers or Instagram handles we found ourselves following each other on Letterboxd, and users are up from 2 million to over 12 million since 2020. So why is everyone suddenly obsessed with the app? Well, a couple of reasons.
What is it?
For those that don’t know, Letterboxd is a social platform and app about all things film. Users can log, rate and review their latest watch, follow their friends or celebrities, and create lists from as general as ‘The 20 best horror films to watch this Halloween” to as niche as ‘Movies where Leonardo DiCaprio ends up sad and damp’.
It seems a simple concept, and not exactly novel – Goodreads essentially offers the same thing but for books to a far less popular extent. So why has Letterboxd taken off and Goodreads or similar apps haven’t? Well, a usable interface for one, but also a social savviness.
Who is on it (and why)?
As well as the platform, it’s known for its often viral social accounts, which has helped to cultivate a younger user base (half of its audience is under 35%, with a quarter aged between 16 and 24). It’s Instagram features the now iconic ‘four favourites’ question at red carpet events, where they ask everyone from Hugh Grant and Saoirse Ronan to Zendaya what their four favourite films are. In fact, celebrity involvement doesn’t stop there – Ayo Edebiri and Sean Baker are dedicated users, and even Martin Scorsese has signed up for an account.
Half of its audience is under 35%, with a quarter aged between 16 and 24
There’s also the memes. A large part of its rise has been its ability to tap into the Gen-Z sensibility to make film interaction, which can historically be snobbish, fun. Film reviews on the app increasingly take the form of a quick, one-line joke review. Take the recently released Twisters, where one of the top reviews reads “guys will say they know a spot and then drive you into a tornado”. Edebiri is one of the great exponents of this style, her review of Saltburn reading “my man’s doing all this but can’t eat runny eggs”. As you you can imagine, Challengers went platinum.
It has also undeniably played a major role in increasing film knowledge and boosting interest in independent and arthouse cinema amongst young people. For those convinced to sign-up, a few ground rules: The MCU? Not popular. A24 and Mubi? Popular.
However, as ever with rapid growth, issues can emerge. The aforementioned wisecrack reviews lose their charm when 80% of users are trying to do them and most of them aren’t as funny as Ayo Edebiri, which can lead to a nightmarish review section that feels a bit like if everyone at a stand-up show got to do one original joke. What’s worse is if the desire for a quippy remark trumps recognising when to do it – they aren’t really appropriate when the film is Zone of Interest, for instance, and yet there they are.
For now, Letterboxd is still small enough not to have fallen pray to the demagogue forces that have all but ruined twitter, or the hyper-curated sense of FOMO Instagram inspires – it remains one of the only social media apps I actually actively enjoy. If there happen to be any film fans out there that aren’t on it, strike while the iron is hot – oh, and follow me.
