Will Sanity Ever Rule?
Will Sanity Ever Rule?
While it is abundantly clear to anyone in the industry that Goodreads has finally become a cesspool of corruption and lies as well as a haven for a tiny minority of mentally unbalanced individuals, is there anyone within the siteβs hierarchy brave enough to stop the rot?
How much longer will it be before the writers of the books for which the site was initially set up to introduce their work to the millions of genuine readers, close their accounts?
When will the management of the site finally realise that the vast majority of one-star reviews written by their pet trolls actually do no harm at all when it comes to sales?
When will they also realise that by deleting genuine reviews by real readers, all they are doing is actively discouraging those same readers from bothering with their site as another source for finding books in the future?
While the current FBI-led investigation into the charges of cyberbullying by certain individuals on Goodreads slowly gathers momentum, how long will it be before Goodreadsβ parent company Amazon cuts its losses and rapidly disassociates itself from its wayward offspring?
Come to that, how long will it be before Amazon cleans its own house, ridding itself of its connection with, and encouragement of, those self-same trolls who migrated to Goodreads?
What is currently happening within Goodreads and Amazon regarding the cyberbullying and stalking of authors, along with the current totally nonsensical practice of eliminating genuine four and five-star reviews, needs to become widely known. What is happening must be brought to the attention of all major newspapers and leading publications like Time and Forbes.
It certainly needs to be aired on all the major television channels’ news slots. Unless or until this happens, it will only be seen as an inconsequential spat between Indie writers, Goodreads, and their trolls. While as writers we all moan and groan among ourselves, the outside world is oblivious to what is going on. Would that mean the trolls also aimed their attacks at well-known writers? Sadly this is not the case.
For goodness sake make it public knowledge!
To anyone reading this that has a connection to the news media in the USA and in the UK, please spread the word. After all, the news media are quick to condemn those individuals who hack peopleβs phones or cyberstalk and bully. Is what is currently happening to writers on book sites like Goodreads and Amazon any different? There must be at least one inquisitive reporter out there with the nose for a good story, and more importantly, with the balls to investigate and expose the current underhand practices of Goodreads.
You have seen the title of this post. It should also be subtitled βWill commonsense and common decency ever become the industry standard?β
Having seen, read and experienced some of the “reviews” you’ve mentioned here, I’ve often wondered why someone would take the time to post such comments. Is it merely the “trolls” who want to tag their territory and make their mark or is it a full scale manipulation to steer readers/purchasers into other specific books? In any event, I seriously doubt the news value of this situation will bring it forward from some newspaper’s back page buried in the financial “op-ed’s”
It seems that “common decency” became quite uncommon a long time ago.
As writers RH, all we can do is spread the word about what is happening. The mere fact that the FBI is investigating has already caused a reaction in that two of the most prominent trolls have left Goodreads. Whether they were both scared of being prosecuted, or it may be that they do not like it when the writers they deliberately target fight back is open for debate. Either way Goodreads needs a change at the top. Someone not afraid to remove the trolls and let the site return to what it once was – a perfect meeting place between writers and readers. π
Update:
The FBI investigation is working. One particularly nasty minded married couple who through Goodreads, Facebook and a couple of other social media sites, harassed, stalked, and in general, made the life of their victim (an author) a misery, have both been removed from the internet permanently as stage one. Stage two involves a court appearance and incarceration. So you see RH, the good guys do eventually prevail. The FBI only have another two dozen or so trolls to remove. π