Friday, December 26, 2008

Goodybe Shelfari, Hello Good Reads!

It seems that Shelfari has a bias towards Mormons and against Atheists.
In a discussion between atheists in a book group (a group named
Atheists on Shelfari), some Mormons asserted themselves into the
conversation, then apparently had their feelings hurt because their
arguments couldn't stand up to logic and reason. So they whined to
Shelfari (Amazon.com), which resulted in some members of my group
being banned.



If a person of religious faith enters into a discussion between
non-believers, then obviously that religious person is looking for a
fight. But to then go whine and complain to the host that someone from
that group hurt your feelings, is absolutely pathetic. Shelfari has
completely overreacted, especially in choosing sides in this dispute.
Fairness would dictate that if any member was to be banned, it would be
all of the members in the discussion. But banning members from
exercising their rights to free speech because the feelings of another
group were hurt is morally shameful. Indeed, that a site based on the
open exchange of ideas and readers' opinions about the books they read,
and the subject matter contained within these books would suppress the
free speech of its members is astonishing. The irony is breathtaking.



Time to leave Bezos to twiddle his Kindle. I want nothing to do with any service or organization that engages in censorship.



Hello GoodReads.com


Follow up:

Making the switch was incredibly easy. I just exported my library from Shelfari as a .xsl file, then imported it into my GoodReads.com library. It even captured my ratings and other notes I had written.

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