Goodreads vs. Other Ways of Tracking Books
I use Goodreads to track my books as well as get info on books I want to read. All in all, Goodreads is really useful for me! I used it even before becoming a blogger to track books that I've read.
But then came all the drama. Authors started complaining that some readers were being obnoxious. Sure, that's true, but the authors honestly could've done their part better. Everyone's a critic, if you're an author; learn that. So because of the authors whining, Goodreads started deleting the reviews that were "snarky" and even started deleting shelves off of users without notice. For some bloggers, it was really bad. I think that it was completely uncalled for, but anyway, tried to stay out of it.
So because of that, people have moved to "Booklikes." What I'm here to talk about is the difference and what I prefer.
To be honest, I like Goodreads. Despite what happened, I'm loyal to Goodreads and how it worked. I tried sites like Shelfari and Booklikes and just didn't like them.
A lot of people use Goodreads and I think it's the most popular and easiest to you (well, for me.) My brain is used to how to search, write a review and add a book to "to read" in Goodreads. Besides what happened, I still believe it's a great, working site to be using.
While people have moved to Shelfari (Amazon) and Booklikes, I wish them happiness there, but I'm sticking to what I prefer and know how to use.
So what do you think? Comment below on what you like! Has Goodreads made you move to Booklikes or Shelfari?
I tried out Booklikes and Shelfari in the past as well but like you, I came back to Goodreads. It's the easiest to use and probably the most developed since it's the most popular! :D
ReplyDeleteI think that all the GR drama was happening when I was busy and never online so it never really occurred to me to actually try and change book sites and so I kind of completely forgot that people were even trying to make the switch. I can see why, though, although I agree with you about Goodreads. I just like the familiar stuff and I'm fine with Goodreads so why not right? Thanks for sharing, Nova!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the GR drama...I wasn't happy about it, but I just couldn't get into the other sites. GR is much easier to use (in my opinion) and, since I primarily use to track the books I've read and the books I want, I think I'm going to stick with it. Great discussion idea!
ReplyDeleteI think my comment was eaten :( if I double post, please feel free to delete this one.
ReplyDeleteI have used Goodreads for a long time, but I also use Booklikes a lot now. I agree that Goodreads is the easiest way to catalog all my books, but I also keep downloading my csv files for fear that my content will suddenly disappear.
I thought that the high-handed way in which Goodreads deleted shelves and reviews of a select few reviewers - all of whom had received the 1% e-mail telling them they were the power-users of that site - was very badly done.
Also, since amz is now sharing content with Goodreads once more, a lot of the book descriptions and summaries are wrong, and I don't want the summary to be different from what is actually on the book when I pick it up in a book-store.
So yes, I am still using Goodreads, but I no longer post full reviews there, just a sentence or two, with a link to my blog. And I also post full reviews on Booklikes now.
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
The goodreads drama was a little uncalled for because like you said, those snarky comments and other things that goodreads has done to "protect" authors from mean readers isn't really helping reviewers. Like you said, we all have our own opinion. But I won't leave GR. I actually find it useful :)
ReplyDeleteI personally don't think that BookLikes is an alternative for Goodreads (at least not when I last checked). They're not identical sites in terms of functionality. Goodreads has a focus on a book database and book categorizing. BookLikes seems to have more of a focus on blogging.
ReplyDeleteSo I don't really see them as interchangeable, which is why I'm sticking with Goodreads. I don't think that BookLikes would suit my needs.
I tried BookLikes for about two minutes but I didn't care for it so I deleted my account. I was on Shelfari before I discovered Goodreads (about 6 years ago). I abandoned Shelfari and when I tried to go back last summer, my account had been locked and they wanted me to contact them. Nope. There are too many alternatives for me to bother with that. Goodreads it is. I have no complaints with them anyway, I just wanted to use Shelfari in addition to Goodreads.
ReplyDeleteGoodreads is a much more functional site and easier to use. After Amazon acquired it, I really did want to move but you can't beat how user friendly it is.
ReplyDelete