Isa K. > Status Update

that's interesting. Now could that be related to GR deciding that people shouldn't be friends with authors, but instead follow them?

ETA: also it's weird the reviewer is saying, "knowing of an author online, and personally knowing an author in real life are two different things."

ETA2: unless she means 'interacting with an author in a superficial way online isn't the same thing as being friends with them'

This is probably an automated verification system, so I'm guessing they might check if you're facebook friends with the author, or, yeah, gr friends? Which would be funny because a lot of authors might only have an "official" personal fb profile instead of a fan page.

I doubt they read anyone's conversations with the author to determine how intimate their interaction is... Unless we're living in the future and there are AIs that can do that? D:

that's really uncool. >:( guess i'll have to start snail-mailing all my creepy fan letters to authors.

I think Amazon needs to set down some ground rules. If I e-mail an author to ask when a books being released or something about a character or pertaining to a story line. Does this mean we're friends? I think not, I think I'm just a fan trying to find out about something that interest me. If we're chatting about our families, vacation plans or things of that nature then yes, we've slipped into a more personal relationship category and friends is a more appropriate description. But I'm pretty sure the e-mail I got back from Julie Garwood after I e-mailed her to say how much I had enjoyed one of her books does not qualify us as friends. To be honest it was probably sent by an assistant and not the author, but hey, I'm cool with that. I thought it was nice that she at least took the time to make sure she had someone available to do this.

Dear Amazon, I gave you money for a book once. Therefore, we have interacted does that mean we're friends? Because if so, really? Can we sit down and talk about this...just sayin'

Karen wrote: "I think Amazon needs to set down some ground rules. If I e-mail an author to ask when a books being released or something about a character or pertaining to a story line. Does this mean we're frien..."

Unfortunately, it's still really hard to determine these interactions with computers. Most likely what Amazon is doing is looking for basic connections over multiple social networks, possibly tracking number of direct interactions over those channels and deciding on some kind of acceptable threshold.

It seems like Amazon is confusing the concept of friends with sock puppets. Drool covered reviews from minions might have little value on their own, but the fact that authors can inspire such a following does say something about whether a consumer may want to give it a shot. Who hasn't picked up at least one book just to see what all the hyperventilating was about?

Isa wrote: "Karen wrote: "I think Amazon needs to set down some ground rules. If I e-mail an author to ask when a books being released or something about a character or pertaining to a story line. Does this me..."

Truthfully I don't have a problem with any review where the reviewer is honest. I've read numerous reviews where they've stated at the very start "I'm a huge fan of..." or "I beta read this book..." or "I'm a friend/acquaintance/relative/etc of this author." They're being upfront in my eyes so I go into it knowing that there may be a margin of bias on the part of the reviewer. I'd rather that then someone else deciding for me what's an appropriate or useful review for me to read.