Source: @costalsoftgirl
One reader was astounded to find that in her Kindle edition of Pretty Little Liars, first published in 2006, a page had been edited to make one of the characters reference TikTok. She found this attempt to bring the story into the present quite distasteful, to the extent that she was debating whether she should give up on reading it.
Other people shared her surprise and annoyance and did not believe that adding allusions to the present was an appropriate way to present the book as worth reading in this day and age. It's not like 2006 is all that long ago. While some of the references in the original version may be a mystery to younger readers, that could be a good thing. It might encourage them to do their research and learn something new about the recent past.
When it comes to books, TV, and other creative pursuits that are obviously influenced by the year in which they were made, keeping them the same can be a part of what makes them worth exploring. If they include things that are insensitive or offensive, it can be an important lesson in how attitudes were at the time (although it also isn't wrong if somebody doesn't want to engage with them because of that). If they reference cultural phenomena that have since been forgotten, they can prove a fascinating time capsule and set the scene in a specific era that makes the text more interesting.
However, the companies that have the rights to these things are always looking for the best way to continue to squeeze as much profit as possible out of them. If that comes from making tweaks that mean they can advertise a product as more ‘current’, they are almost always going to do that. It is a question of marketing strategy, not preserving cultural history.
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