I’M NOT TIMID IN REAL LIFE, SO WHY AM I ONLINE?
That is the struggle. This is the twenty-first century, get with it, Lauren! I'm trying to stop resisting the future of reading, and it's working!
I've never been one to post reviews or comments on general online. I'm an avid observer, but I've never felt comfortable interacting with people that I don't know personally. It is completely out of my comfort zone to "friend" someone who I've never seen in real life, so my insides are churning just thinking abut interacting with new cyber friends. Over the course of the past couple weeks, I've slowly grown more comfortable with interactions online...especially online communities like Goodreads that are more academically focused. While perusing the book reviews on Goodreads and Amazon (as well as film, etc. on Amazon) I found a few common themes among the reviews that seemed most helpful, which seem inherit in the subject matter of the website and the people who are attracted to it.
My favorite reviews are those that incorporate their honest opinion into an unbiased, brief analysis of the book or movie with just a little bit of summary, if any. People who have given intelligent thought to a work but aren't writing just to sound smart are the ones I want to listen to. A couple of weeks ago, I started following a few people on Goodreads who I didn't know before. I appreciate that they give honest opinions and write about the literary quality and personal relevance the the work. I noticed that they didn't rate every single classic book as four or five stars. If they don't like a book, they aren't afraid to say so, but they support their opinions with evidence or thoughtful reasoning. I'm most prompted to follow people who have thoughtful reviews on a myriad of books, don't write sarcastically or ironically, and don't seem pretentious. I can go to other sources to find those kinds of reviews!
I also feel comfortable "friending" people on Goodreads who have read similar books to me, and rated them similarly. The comparing ratings feature is extremely helpful with that. I was fascinated to see how many random strangers have similar opinions to me, and where we varied. I found many people who had read many of the same books as me, but given wildly different reviews. With one girl I decided to follow, I noticed that I give Diary of Anne Frank 5 stars while she gave it 3, I gave In the Time of the Butterflies 2 stars while she gave it 3, and we both gave Of Mice and Men 4 stars. I imagine that people who generally like the same books that I like will be a good place to find new books to read that I will actually enjoy. There is definitely a danger of the "echo chamber" effect here, but as I get older, I have less and less time to read for myself and I want to spend my precious reading time on books that I will really enjoy.
THE HARD PART: MY TURN
When it came time for me to start writing reviews, I decided that I wanted to keep it brief, fair, and based on my personal experience with the book. There are so many resources to read plot summary; when people put summaries into their reviews, I tend to skip over it. For my Goodreads review, I wrote just slightly more about literary elements that I enjoyed, because I think that more people on Goodreads are looking for those qualities. For my Amazon review, I focused more on the product of the Kindle Reading experience, because Amazon is clearly more consumer based. My Amazon review was also a little trickier for me to navigate because I share the account with my family. I felt a lot more comfortable writing a personal review on Goodreads than I did on Amazon under my father's name.
After writing my review on Goodreads, it automatically popped up on Facebook, and a few of my close friends liked it (probably out of some bizarre moral code of liking anything I post even though they may have not read the book), and a few random people who I haven't connected with in a long time liked it as well! That was a fun surprise and an intellectual way to reconnect.
It was difficult for me to engage with people on Goodreads about Heart of Darkness; it doesn’t seem that very many people are talking about it right now. I’m trying! Engage with me! I decided to write my own discussion question to see if anyone could provide insight or answers that would intrigue me and lead me to friend someone. No one has yet to respond, but I’m actually excited about it and will be sure to report if anyone does respond on a comment below...if not, I guess only my Goodreads friends will see the shame of my unanswered question.
Basically, I had way too much anxiety about becoming an active reviewer and interacter on Goodreads and Amazon. I’ve been taking way too much advantage of other people’s thoughtful reviews to not contribute some of my own. Here’s to the future of literary consumption! I want to be a part of it!
I think that learning to overcome fears of the online world can be hard, especially when we've been taught our whole lives not to talk to strangers and then here we are in a situation where that's almost all we do. It seems as though most of us had trouble when it came to posting it on Facebook, and a few likes was all we got, but at least it's a start!
ReplyDeleteI am the same way about commenting on strangers' posts! I made quite a few comments on people's reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads and since I didn't get any responses, I was slightly relieved. Ha. Probably because I overthink things. But this morning I found that a woman on Goodreads had responded to a comment I made on her review. she didn't treat me like a weirdo at all! She actually bonded with me over her reasonings in the review. It was fun to see that people on these sites like when people comment on their reviews. I also like that you tied in the Goodreads feature of comparing books with these strangers. It really makes it easier and more beneficial to connect with them. Good luck on your review postings in the future!
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how many of us seem to have similar opinions and experiences with this project. Most of us were hesitant to comment on the reviews of people we don't know. It makes me wonder if there is something to be said about "online personal space" of some sort. I know that at times I feel like I am doing the equivalent of just walking up to a person and stating my opinions at them. It is interesting to see so many of us have that sort of experience when talking to others online. I wonder if having a degree of anonymity would help with that, rather than having your own real name attached to your commentary.
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