this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2023
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I've been using it for 3 months and enjoy it too. It's especially nice that you can add new books to the database yourself. In Goodreads you had to join a group, message the admins, and pray to Odin. It's great that Bookwyrm copies over your Goodreads books and reviews. At the moment I rarely visit the site, only to bulk-post book reviews, check my feed, and see who's on the discover page. Like my experience with all federated stuff so far, people there are more quiet, private, and reserved, which doesn't lend super well to a review database. So I still check a book's reviews on Goodreads before getting it.
I was happy to find an alternative though. Distancing from Amazon is for the best, and to make it easier Goodreads recently went through an awful design change. Everything on the page is bigger, more book data is hidden, and some data disappeared completely. They also refuse to make a dark mode and have a buggy app. Bookwyrm being federated with the ability to boost reviews is nice too.
Yeah it's pretty clear to me Amazon doesn't care a ton about the Goodreads experience. I'm pretty sure they mostly use the data for Kindle recommendations stuff, plus the site feeds into Amazon by default for book sales. I have noticed my instance doesn't have a ton of activity since the discover page hasn't really changed much. However, I feel the only thing I can do to improve that is contribute myself (I'm sure I'll grow tired of doing that eventually though.)
You're bang on about Amazon seeing Goodreads as a utility rather than a social site for users. What's nice about book reviews is that they help summarize and clarify your own thinking. So even if no one reads it, it's a net positive. I think many of us value reviews by everyday people over critics and personalities as well.
1000% For me, a good book makes me want to write, and oftentimes bad books make me wanna write too! Reading can be a very solitary activity so just having a place to put your thoughts out there or see the thoughts of others to help you through your thinking is very cathartic. As much as I have resentment for Goodreads now, it has been a place where I have found so many new books through other reviewers - and hopefully Bookwyrm will continue to do that too.