Goodreads Is a Cesspool

Time sheds light on the toxic cesspool that Goodreads has become: “Scammers and cyberstalkers are increasingly using the Goodreads platform to extort authors with threats of ‘review bombing’ their work–and they are frequently targeting authors from marginalized communities who have spoken out on topics ranging from controversies within the industry to larger social issues on social media.” Social spaces need moderation, in which Goodreads is woefully deficient. Platforms become vectors for bad behaviour not because they’re popular, but because they’re vulnerable.¹ Combine that with authors feeling that they have no choice but to have a Goodreads presence (or a social media presence in general), and this is what you get.

1. Back in the day, most blog comment and pingback spam came via blogs running Movable Type, which were a tiny minority of total blog installs but the easiest to hack.