A month ago, I wrote that I would like to try Bookwyrm (#Bookwyrm: a social network for tracking your reading, talking about books. More on https://joinbookwyrm.com). Now, one month and three books later, it might be a good time to write about my first impressions.
OpenLibrary?!
There are definitely some arguments to use Bookwyrm and related services. With related I mean the OpenLibrary: https://openlibrary.org/! An Open Data platform for all books etc! Actually, I thought such a catalogue would be freely available already, for example from the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. But OpenLibrary displays the Data also nicely with (I think) more data.
It sounds like a nice project I’d be willing to contribute when I get new books. I try to resist the urge to check all the books that I have :-D.
Back to Bookwyrm
Okay, back to Bookwyrm! When the book is in the OpenLibrary, it’s rather easy to add it to my reading list (thanks to @juergen_hubert@mementomori.social for this hint). Also adding comments, reviews or quotes is pretty easy …
As long as you’re on the desktop. Unfortunately, I don’t find the webpage very mobile-friendly. Especially as I am usually not at the PC when I’m reading a book. At best, I have my cell phone within reach. — Don’t get me wrong: it all works, but I feel like it could be ways better on the mobile.
Do I go on?
On the other side: how often do I really comment or write a review? A review, well: when I finish (or cancel) a book: not too often. The not-so-mobile friendliness isn’t a killer, though.
And as I don’t really seek huge conversations about books, it is mostly about reviews in my case. Honestly, I think, I never wrote book reviews before. I never wanted to feed my contribution to any company where I’m not able & allowed to reuse the data. To me it was always like working for free. Especially as my review would always be just on one site, one shop — one of many.
If I want to write a review, I want to review the book. Not the book on one particular site. And even though Bookwyrm is by far not THE central review site (yet), it is open – and it is part of the #Fediverse.
Coming back to the initial question: Do I go on? Yes, I think so. Obviously, it will be small contributions only. But as usual: if everyone contributes a bit, the result is huge.
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