Read Any Good Books Lately? Social Networking with Goodreads

While browsing the books on a friend’s bookshelf one day, Goodreads founder, Otis Chandler, had a thought - why not build a website where people can share what books they are reading or have read, write short reviews and then discuss them with friends, old and new. And so he did.

Goodreads has an attractive, easy to use interface where members:

♦ Create a profile with photo, background and website or blog URL

♦ Add books they have read, are reading or want to read, simply by searching the author or title or by adding the ISBN

♦ Get social

Getting started

After signing up and completing my profile and preferences, I added the book the brown delivery truck brought today: Tribes by Seth Godin. Next, I listed my progress as 20 pages and then wrote my first review.

All books added are available on your bookshelf. Here’s mine:

Socializing

Start with your own friends and bookshelf…

♦ Invite your friends to join Goodreads and share thoughts on books the Web 2.0 way

♦ Click on any book’s image on your bookshelf to view information about the book and read other members’ reviews

♦ Click on a member’s user name to view their profile and the books they have on their bookshelf

♦ Join a book discussion, take trivia, vote on a Listopia list, answer a poll and join a group

♦ Take or add a question to the never-ending book quiz

♦ Share beyond Goodreads by auto-posting to Facebook or auto-tweeting your Twitter friends with what you’re reading

Privacy

If you think about it, people can tell a great deal about you from the books you read. So, consider the privacy options you desire before loading all the topics that are near and dear to you for the whole world to see. Privacy options include private, making your profile only visible to friends or public, allowing your profile viewable by anyone.

Business use

If you are a book enthusiast, you will find Goodreads to be a really cool site for personal use (I will be keying in ISBNs all weekend). However, the business social networking opportunities are also terrific.

Add some books you’ve read from your target market’s industry (If you haven’t, you missed a step- Click here). Then, write some insightful reviews and meet some like-minded readers to discuss the topic. Voila! Easy business social networking.