Read by Theme discussion

As of today, I'm going to be looking for a co-mod for Read by Theme.

Why?

If you don't already know, Goodreads announced a new site policy last Friday. I do not agree with their decision (view spoiler)[Goodreads users are no longer permitted to warn others about authors who harass, threaten, or reveal the personal information of GR members and other reviewers. Goodreads will also be deleting shelves that refer to the author's behavior as well as shelves that they think are about author behavior. (hide spoiler)], their actions (view spoiler)[They are admitting to deleting at least 21 user's reviews without warning. These users did not have a chance to back up their work, and staff has refused to help them get the data back. And many more users than 21 claim to have been affected. (hide spoiler)], or their response to the situation (view spoiler)[They sent their most visible Customer Service representative, Kara Erickson, to weather the storm all by herself. When a select few GR memebrs in the thread became aggressive with her, she stopped responding and took her profile private. While I'm very angry over this whole situation, I feel terrible for Kara. Obviously, neither staff's decision nor their plan for how to handle the feedback can be blamed entirely on her, despite what some members seem to believe. But that isn't to say that Kara's responses in the thread were anything resembling adequate, and someone higher up in the chain of command than her needs to step in and actually start addressing people's concerns. (hide spoiler)].

Behind the spoiler tags above, I've written some further explanation for the situation. For other responses to the situation, see here. Or you can wade through the 3,743+ comments in the Feedback thread linked above. (This one.)

Because of this situation, I am planning on significantly reducing my participation here at Goodreads. I may ultimately choose to leave entirely.

In the meantime, I'd like to have a co-mod to help run Read by Theme when I am not present on the site.

Who?

Ideally, the co-mod should be someone who:

1) Is not planning on leaving Goodreads in the foreseeable future.

2) Has participated in the group before--i.e., has at the very least introduced themselves to the group. This isn't a hard-and-fast requirement; if a brand new member or long-time lurker is interested in the job, I'm not going to immediately deny them; it'd just be nice to have someone proven to be active in the group take the job.

How is the new mod going to be chosen?

I'm not 100% sure yet. You could leave it all up to me, or we could have some kind of election. Or some third option.

If you have input on how a co-mod should be chosen, please let me know below. If you think an election is a good idea, say so. If you've got a better idea, please let me/us know. Etcetera.

If only I wasn't on the same boat as you, I would be the first person to volunteer to help you out.

I appreciate that, Tima. :)

Alright, everybody, time for an update.

GR's behavior has been growing increasingly worse over the course of 2013, and as of today, they've finally crossed the line for me; I no longer want to participate in the site.

So, what to do with Read by Theme? Frankly, I don't have the slightest idea. If someone would like to take over, please contact me. Otherwise, I have to ask: is it worth keeping the group open? Do people use the themes, even though few people post? Or is it time to retire the group?

Let me know what you guys think.

This is actually the only group I like in Goodreads and I like using the themes, it's fun way to pick up something to read from my TBR-shelf. I hope someone would pick up after you, but I'm not sure I could do that.

Thanks for letting me know what you think, Jasmiina.

I've been wondering if I perhaps I should look in the moderator support group for someone interested in taking over the group. Any thoughts on that, anyone?

Over the years I've been a part of many an amazing site that got bought out by the big boys & ruined - it's a shame when it happens. So I can see your reasons for leaving.

I do use the themes - heavily, as my shelf will testify & I would be sorry to see the group go.

But I think if no-one has stepped forward come December 31st then the group should be retired.

Thanks for offering an opinion, Claire-Jane. I appreciate it.

If I do decide to retire the group, I hope to be able to point members in the direction of at least one similar group or reading challenge. I believe I've seen a 2014 reading challenge that runs on monthly themes, so I'll look into that.

I understand your decision but I will be sorry to see the group go. The monthly theme has pushed me into choosing books that I never would have considered - and I have found a few gems! Thanks for all your work in organizing us! And, also, let us know if you find any other themed reading sites.

Thanks for posting, Lorna! I really appreciate it.

I haven't yet made the decision to retire the group. Since it's become clear to me that there are plenty of people who use the themes to inspire their reading choices, I'll be glad to keep the polls and the What We're Reading thread going for the foreseeable future.

But I will be rearranging the discussion topics in an attempt to declutter the group some, and at the moment, the Pick It for Me thread, which has been inactive for several months now, has been closed.

Hopefully you don't mind doing the above Amara. I think it is the part of the group that most people use and it would certainly be appreciated if you do that. I believe the bookshelf function pretty well runs itself, if I am not mistaken. The polls and the What We're Reading thread would make it a perfect group for me. Perhaps the new theme idea thread might be good to keep as well. Just a suggestion. Thank you for the offer.

Thanks for commenting, Janet. I do intend to keep the "Suggest a Theme" thread open.

ETA: And the thread rearranging is done. Go to the discussion page to check it out.

It works perfectly for me. Thank you again for agreeing to this.

Alright, guys, we've got a co-mod.

Jackie, who has been a member for about a year, is now a Read by Theme moderator.

I'm not going to totally disappear from the site yet, and as you can see, I'm keeping my moderator/creator position just in case I need it in the future. (If Jackie steps down, for instance.)

If I do at any point disappear from the site and someone desperately needs to contact me, I can be reached at Twitter, BookLikes, Tumblr, or Leafmarks.

Hi everyone!!!! Thanks for the introduction, Amara, I am really excited to be the co-mod and make sure that we can keep this going while Amara steps back. I probably did a quick intro when I first joined the group, but things have changed so I can just give you an idea of who I am. I live in the Baltimore area, I'm 25 years old and I work for the Maryland Dept of Health. I primarily work in infectious disease (HIV specifically) and am very interested in reading about health-related topics, but will generally read anything. Please feel free to reach out if you need anything/have any questions and I hope that I can do my best to take over for Amara, although those are some big shoes to fill.