Comments on: The Myriad of Goodreads Reviewers

By: Lyn

Lyn — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:45:19 +0000

That is lovely and well done for speaking up on this sensitive issue.
A good friend linked me to your article at exactly the time I was contemplating posting a comment on Twitter suggesting that if a review serves no purpose other than to inflate one’s own ego, it’s really best not shared.
The idea of reviews is to provide constructive feedback and to inform potential readers in a helpful way. I’m so pleased to hear you get plenty of the latter – I have absolutely no doubt that you deserve them!
Good luck.

By: Becky @ One Literature Nut

Becky @ One Literature Nut — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 04:01:01 +0000

I’ve been pretty annoyed with all the notices I get about posts and giveaways through Goodreads. I like to get email updates, but I just can’t with all the stuff coming through.

As for snarky reviewers, I definitely know what you’re talking about. I’m NOT that type, but I’m also painfully aware that the author is probably reading the reviews that are posted.

I wonder how many Goodreads’ reviewers also post to other sites like Amazon? Amazon readers are way more likely to call you on your critical eye than I’ve ever noticed on Goodreads, so I wonder if the varied audience of Amazon calms people down?

By: Wallace

Wallace — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:23:26 +0000

Ah, Pam… you often read my mind. I just laughed out loud about the Critical Critic — TOTALLY. Too pretentious for my taste, I always laugh when I read them… and sometimes I read then just to laugh. ;)

By: capillya

capillya — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 03:46:33 +0000

Oh my goodness, CRITICAL CRITIC. If I could use all 12,000 of your words as murderous weapons, I’d use ‘em as arrows, load ‘em up in my bow a la Katniss Everdeen and let ‘em fly, because I’M SURE YOU HATED THE HUNGER GAMES TOO.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:16:13 +0000

Love it! You summed it the entire universe in 3 small sections. Awesomeness.

I’ve been on GR since 2007 and loved it, back when I only had 6 friends, before I started blogging.

Just wish you could filter out the event invites, group requests, event updates to events you didn’t even agree to attend.

But, I don’t even look at the snarky reviews unless someone links to them on twitter.

Great post!

By: heidenkind

heidenkind — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:38:52 +0000

Hm, I think I might be the second type of reviewer…

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:36:55 +0000

I have noticed this also. The one that annoys me the most is The Critical Critic. I mean come on! How masochistic are you?! If you hate these books so much why do you keep reading them! Why?! :)

Love the post!

By: P.H.C. Marchesi

P.H.C. Marchesi — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:25:40 +0000

Thanks for posting this. I often think the same when I go to Goodreads.

Best,
P.H.C.

By: Sophie

Sophie — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:19:12 +0000

Excellent groupings and they ring true. So very, very true.

By: Kaethe

Kaethe — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:02:56 +0000

Well, I definitely not the Critical Critic, and I don’t think I’m Snarkalicious, so I’m hoping I’m normal. I’ve turned off all emails and learned to embrace the privacy of un-friending. But since many people don’t post reviews frequently, I like to follow as many people as I find something in common with. Consequently, my to-read list is over 14k titles, but I like to think there’s a strong consensus to the titles highest on the list.