Social networks can bring people together and even fuel revolutions. From Twitter to Facebook, from Orkut to Myspace, social networks online have linked millions of people of wildly different stripes.
But what happens when you base social networks on a specific community, in this case book lovers? And what happens when publishers and booksellers such as Amazon get in on the act?
Here are six social networking sites that are up and running now, and we'll tell you the difference between the ones with book publishing interests and those tied to other interests.
We'd love to hear what you think of these sites and if you're a member of any of them, tell us about them in the comments section or vote in the slideshow below.
"Goodreads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Don’t stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing."
Like the competing services, adding books to your virtual collection entails a search and a click – most of the meta data is pulled in via an Amazon web service. Goodreads founder Otis Chandler says the company is focused on the social network aspect of the service, letting users introduce their friends to good books through recommendations, currently reading lists, etc.
"Goodreads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Don’t stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing."
Like the competing services, adding books to your virtual collection entails a search and a click – most of the meta data is pulled in via an Amazon web service. Goodreads founder Otis Chandler says the company is focused on the social network aspect of the service, letting users introduce their friends to good books through recommendations, currently reading lists, etc.
Social networks can bring people together and even fuel revolutions. From Twitter to Facebook, from Orkut to Myspace, social networks online have linked millions of people of wildly different stripes.
Social networks can bring people together and even fuel revolutions. From Twitter to Facebook, from Orkut to Myspace, social networks online have linked millions of people of wildly different stripes.
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Patterns of communication, best described as many-to-many, are resulting in a world governed by relevant, almost-real-time, and perpetually flowing feedback. This constant and permanent traffic of participation is the animating force of the Revolution of Relevance.
The insidious and deceptive self-branding that used to be confined to the corporate world is now also used by political message-makers, aiming to create a look and feel that consumers identify with intuitively.
To me, social media is not an endless pit of oversharing. You can make it a well-curated feed of the news that is most important to you, and you can surround yourself with people who inspire and inform you.
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The Huffington Post First Posted: 11/02/10 07:46 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:10 PM ET