Amazon Goes on Shelfari

The P-I's John Cook reports that Amazon has bought Shelfari. Shelfari is reporting its purchase, too, so it must be true. Wonder if Amazon gets free shipping when it buys an HQ?

This creates an awkward, "kissing cousins" relationship for Shelfari competitor LibraryThing, which was minority-owned by AbeBooks, also purchased by Amazon a few weeks ago.

The bad blood is all very red-book vs. blue-book. Shelfari is the book-oriented social-networking site that Gawker called "social networking rapists" for using a default opt-in that plundered new users' email address books to send out "Join me on Shelfari" spam. LibraryThing has snarked that Shelfari users tend to have more friends than books listed. (More friends than books! Oh no they dihn't!) Shelfari uses only Amazon's database. LibraryThing remains an "open source" model.

Despite reading upwards of 50 books per year, we've never been drawn to use either one, honestly. We've been too busy reading to work on wallpapering the internet with our bookstream. But maybe it helps keep the kids off the streets.

Shelves of books, books, books! courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Pool member robohit.

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By MvB in News on August 26, 2008 12:45 PM

Comments [rss]

James Callan

I've used Shelfari, LibraryThing, and Goodreads, and the latter is the one that gets it just right.

Shelfari is too focused on bells and whistles, LibraryThing is too focused on owning books rather than reading them. Goodreads hits the sweet spot.

That said, I don't use it tons, and certainly not in a social networking fashion. Though I have been tracking the books I've read this year. (Username scarequotes, and yes, I really am reading a collection of Unknown Soldier comics from the early '70s.)

Jameson

Have you checked out www.goodreads.com? The reviews are good; if you have the desire to socially network it's there, too. I prefer to be left alone to read.