Wow…ever
write a blog and accidentally kick a hornets’ nest? That’s what happened to me
with my original Cyber Bullying on Goodreads post. The point of that particular article was that
Goodreads didn’t really respond to my questions about how they deal with people
who abuse their review policy. I have heard terrible stories about cyber
bullying (against authors and reviewers/readers alike) as I’m sure most of you
have. In that blog, I was trying to point out that Goodreads may not be
addressing the issue as well as they should.
Now
with 16 million users on Goodreads, there are bound to be a few mean people in
the mix. What I wanted to do was raise awareness of cyber bullying in general,
and to encourage people to be respectful towards each other and report abuse if
they happened to run across it. I don’t think it is possible for the people at Goodreads
to police 16 million people without some help from their users. It was never my
intention to single people out, name names, or point fingers. My point was more
general: cyber bullying is an issue we all need to be concerned with.
While
I did mention one site that reports on alleged bullying incidents, it was never
my intention to support or validate any one website or promote any one single
side of this topic. Again, my focus was on my issues with Goodreads lack of
response to my questions, and I was wondering aloud what effect, if any, Amazon’s
purchase of Goodreads might have on the future of that site.
I
really appreciated the responses to that post, and those of you who commented.
It made me realize what an incredibly sensitive topic this is. I knew that
before, but I was a little overwhelmed by the emotional responses I received.
When things got personal between some of the people commenting, I opted to
remove the post. I don’t mind respectful discussion or dissenting opinions. I
love to hear what other people think. I have learned a great deal from the
comments people have left on my blog, but I didn’t want my post about cyber
bullying to turn into a perfect example of it.
We
only have each other…play nice.
I hear ya! I've gotten lucky so far not to feel bullied on any site yet. Have I received bad reviews? Yes. Is that part of this process? Yes. Can people be critical without being personal? Yes. I'm hoping for good things with the Amazon takeover, but with the problems you and a few other author friends have had with the Amazon review process, I'm not entirely optimistic. Still hopeful though. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jean! I've had a few harsh reviews myself, and that is part of the process. Thankfully, those reviews focused on my books and not me personally, which is how it should be.
DeleteTime will tell with Amazon. They may revamp Goodreads or just leave it as is. We'll see. I'm not a big fan of the Goodreads review system. I specifically don't like the fact that you can leave a star rating without a written review.
I feel like this might make more sense, given the example of cyber bullying. Otherwise it's just an empty post. Sources are required. (Not cyber bullying, just making a point to help you make yours).
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I did have a very detailed post prior to this one that included examples and my emails back and forth with Goodreads concerning their policies. I mentioned a website that documented abuses on Goodreads and even Amazon. The point of that blog was that cyber bullying is a problem, but people became focused on that website and began a very emotionally charged battle in the comments section over the validity of the website. When the discussion got out of hand, I had to pull the original blog down. They completely missed the point and became focused on small details and fighting. This is the blog I wrote afterwards in response to what happened.
Delete