Terminalcoffee discussion

We knew it was coming, and now it's here. Our reviews are being used to sell books. How do you feel about that?

No big surprise. I no longer do reviews, but mine were never anything quotable anyway.

I think I have made one review. They can have at it.

And isn't the general idea of leaving a review done with the purpose of igniting interest, curiosity or warning to other readers about a book?

I can't say I'm shocked. I'm torn. If they consider my reviews good enough to sell books, that makes me feel great.
However, it's wrong on many levels to take our own words and use them without our permission to sell books. Where is our share of the freakin' money?

Do we get an alert that it's being shared? Or is it a passive share -- shoppers click a link that says, "see customer reviews" or some such?

I wonder how that's going to go. Do they have time to read them all? Because, some GR reviews are pretty...um...colorful. They might regret that decision.

Scout, is there a link? I haven't seen anything about this.

Hmmm...the FAQ says
"Our Terms of Service grant us the ability to use the reviews posted on Goodreads but you have control over where they appear. We provide you with the option to say that your reviews should only appear on Goodreads, or alternatively, that it's OK for them to be shared on other sites like Google and libraries. You will continue to have this level of control over your reviews.

Bottom line: you have control in deciding if your reviews appear on other sites, including Amazon."

If you go to "edit profile" and "settings" you can disable your reviews from appearing on partner sites.

Great to know, Sarah. Thanks.

Thanks Pi. I recently received an email promoting a book on Amazon, and Goodreads reviews were included in the sales pitch.

I just tried to do what you suggested, but that option was disabled.

Misha wrote: "Was the box checked? I just looked at my profile settings and the option to share reviews with partner sites was indeed grayed out, but the box was unchecked so my reviews aren't being shared outsi..."

I agree that those are my favorite reviews. I'm from the Pauline Kael school of reviews. That said, I don't know it'll quash them. I think GR and Amazon will select around the reviews that are personal because they tend to make lousy ad copy. I hope.

I'm doing the same because of said proliferation.

HI- I have just joined this group and love this topic; I used to purchase all my books at the book store but now with the electronic wave being upon us, that is not the case. I found Goodreads because I was purchasing something from Kobo - Goodreads provided me with reviews (good and bad); a bit of the storey line; a picture of the cover and, in accordance with what I have read, whether it would be a good fit.
I get that some don't want their profile or thoughts out there, but I think in this day and age where we are not shopping and actually picking up the book - I am happy that Goodreads has provided this service.

Welcome, Karen!

Hi, Karen. Welcome to TC!

Thank you both for the welcome!

Hi Misha - I am just starting to see the social side of GR, just this past week. As indicated, I had never really noticed that area before because I wasn't looking. Now, though, I am looking forward to meeting new people and interacting with them at GR.

Agreed. The social aspect of goodreads is of upmost importance. I catalogue all of the books I've ever read, books I want to read, and I post reviews for the one's I've read.

That's what makes goodreads such a quality site, in my opinion. Interacting with others, exchanging ideas, learning about other's lives, religions, political views, sicknesses, fears and triumphs.

There's is no pressure on GR. It's a fairly laid back site.

This might correlate with the fact that GR is now a sales medium: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

I don't like the quarrels between reviewers and readers either, but as I see it, it was mostly the authors who flipped out, even on reviews that said "has potential, needs editing, 3 stars".

I think it was about time GR did something against disputes like that, but to delete a review or shelf without warning and not giving the user the chance to change their wording is mean, considering what some of them had to endure due to harassment by authors.

And now those questionable STGRB people declare this new policy a huge success and are positive it happened thanks to articles they have written and petitions they have filed.
Makes me shudder.

I see no good coming from this. I'm shocked they provide the home address of reviewers they don't like. How do they go about that? Jeez, what a fiasco.

I don't know if this is where to post this, but I'm going to because I've been carrying it around on my right click clipboard and need to paste it somewhere.

Today was a weird day at school.
I leave my eight month old baby at home with a nanny every day to go teach high school sophomores in English classes. I also have a section of seniors in AP literature. Leah rides up the mountain every day with me and she attends all day preschool in the same district.

Those who know me know that I've been around goodreads since 2007. Two years after YouTube was bought by google and a LOT of my identity was already established online. I met my husband on social media, friendster, back in 2005. Six months before hurricane Katrina.
Anyway, I hate the concept of google, and think of my students as the "google generation" as they disdain knowledge, the kind that I earned, because to them knowledge is nothing but the device in their pocket and the instrument they reach with it. Google.
Anyway, I try not to google. But I do enjoy wikipedia and IMDB to no end.
Yet, today I was verbally attacked by a super smart debate kid for telling his class my rationale for why they must not google the search terms they select for their research project.

He probably just googled his rebuttal to you. Don't sweat it. Encyclopedias are still rad in my book. Even if I can only glimpse them through a glass case in a museum.

Some people just love to argue. You are correct, Sally. Not everything can be answered by Google. Some want to treat the academic library as a dusty mausoleum to the olden times. Lots of sources - good, peer-reviewed sources - don't give away their stuff for free.

Do kids these days even know what an encyclopedia is? Or how to spell it? I mentioned a cassette player to someone and they had no idea what I was talking about.

As a kid I used to love browsing through our encyclopedia. I purchased one or two volumes for my kids when they were little. They are beautifully illustrated, dust gatherers. A nostalgic purchase.

In kindergarten we were shown the abacus, but the tool of choice was cuisenaire rods.

::had to edit cuisenaire, my iPhone didn't recognise the term::

Amelia wrote: "I wonder how that's going to go. Do they have time to read them all? Because, some GR reviews are pretty...um...colorful. They might regret that decision."

You're quite right..I've gotten some nasty reviews for one of my books simply because it doesn't fit neatly into a preconceived genre...a bit disconcerting. So now I have to explain up front that my book is not the average type of genre read. But I still think it's good to have reviews out there to give readers an idea of what they're purchasing.

As it turns out, GR is a sales medium. Type in a book title, and GR comes up in the first couple of results.

At one time goodreads was linking my reviews to my facebook. I don't use facebook much so I was surprised when I saw 6 or so friends join goodreads. Then I found out and disabled that feature on goodreads.

I am seeing more recommendations on my home page than ever before. Most are for books it looks as if I'd never read.

Books are the heart of the universe. I love that they are being sold and am glad that my home, goodreads, is surviving off of their sales.

Diamante wrote: "Amelia wrote: "I wonder how that's going to go. Do they have time to read them all? Because, some GR reviews are pretty...um...colorful. They might regret that decision."

You're quite right..I've ..."

I did too, it was an unpleasant reminder that more of the public can view/judge/communicate with us. But then again, everybody wants to be famous. Now we are, right?

CD wrote: "I am seeing more recommendations on my home page than ever before. Most are for books it looks as if I'd never read."

This is annoyingly true. Lobstergirl, is there anything GR can do about that?

Ficus is back! Ficus is back!

The_FIcus wrote: "CD wrote: "I am seeing more recommendations on my home page than ever before. Most are for books it looks as if I'd never read."

This is annoyingly true. Lobstergirl, is there anything GR can do a..."

Yes, they can get rid of that awful recommendations widget.

I never look at my recommendations.

Its one of the most prominent options in the app, I believe.