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Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms's Reviews > Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
by
by
Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms's review
bookshelves: 2013-releases, fave-author, i-own, life-lessons, moral-of-the-story, non-fiction, philosophy, sad-tough-to-read, suspense, all-time-faves, fave-2013, read-in-2013
Nov 04, 2013
bookshelves: 2013-releases, fave-author, i-own, life-lessons, moral-of-the-story, non-fiction, philosophy, sad-tough-to-read, suspense, all-time-faves, fave-2013, read-in-2013
This book is available for free download here
I am one of the readers who added this book to my TBR and became a fan of G. R. Reader when the book was first added to Goodreads database. Imagine my surprise when suddenly the book was gone from my shelves, and the author had disappeared?
I am very happy the author(s) has been able to get the book back into the database, and I look forward to reading it.
Remember that you can vote for this book in the Goodreads Awards for 2013 - it can be added both to the non-fiction and the Debut-author lists.
Extremely well written book, I found no grammatical, syntax or spelling errors. I really enjoyed some of the reviews that had been deleted, as they had been unceremoniously been taken off-site by staff before I had the time to check them out.
It continues to sadden me that so many of the users who got the 'Congratulations, you're part of the 1% top users of Goodreads' e-mail continue to have their reviews and shelves deleted. What I find much hope in is that Off Topic was still published! It is great to see that the community that once was the main focal point of Goodreads (at least for me!) still exists - even if it no longer exists here on the very site where it originated.
I am one of the readers who added this book to my TBR and became a fan of G. R. Reader when the book was first added to Goodreads database. Imagine my surprise when suddenly the book was gone from my shelves, and the author had disappeared?
I am very happy the author(s) has been able to get the book back into the database, and I look forward to reading it.
Remember that you can vote for this book in the Goodreads Awards for 2013 - it can be added both to the non-fiction and the Debut-author lists.
Extremely well written book, I found no grammatical, syntax or spelling errors. I really enjoyed some of the reviews that had been deleted, as they had been unceremoniously been taken off-site by staff before I had the time to check them out.
It continues to sadden me that so many of the users who got the 'Congratulations, you're part of the 1% top users of Goodreads' e-mail continue to have their reviews and shelves deleted. What I find much hope in is that Off Topic was still published! It is great to see that the community that once was the main focal point of Goodreads (at least for me!) still exists - even if it no longer exists here on the very site where it originated.
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Quotes Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms Liked
“The Internet is transient. Information can be removed with a couple of mouse-clicks; it is an Orwellian dream. We have been advised, by people who claim to know about these things, that there is no point in protesting against a social network. Whoever owns the network will run it as they see fit, normally to maximize their profit margin. Members who dispute the rules will simply be thrown out. The Terms of Use are written so as not to allow them any recourse.”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
“At your next book club meeting, picture me sitting quietly in the corner, taking notes on your preferences. Imagine the next day you get an email from me trying to sell you a new grill — or a book — or accessories for your Glock. That's the Amazon/Goodreads deal. It's appalling. But everywhere in the press, you'll read about the genius of Amazon."
(Michael Herrmann and the booksellers of Gibson's)”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
(Michael Herrmann and the booksellers of Gibson's)”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
“You won’t believe this. 99% of reviews on GoodBetterBestReads are written by less than one percent of the members.
Did you hear that? 99%! Let’s repeat it. 99%. Let’s repeat it. 99%.
Now, the thing is, we thought that by getting one percent to do all the writing, we could sell to the 100%.
We placed a lot of trust in the one percent. Can you see our dilemma?
A lot of people’s welfare depended on the one percent.
What would happen to our cocktails and our cars and our condos, if the one percent staged a strike?”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
Did you hear that? 99%! Let’s repeat it. 99%. Let’s repeat it. 99%.
Now, the thing is, we thought that by getting one percent to do all the writing, we could sell to the 100%.
We placed a lot of trust in the one percent. Can you see our dilemma?
A lot of people’s welfare depended on the one percent.
What would happen to our cocktails and our cars and our condos, if the one percent staged a strike?”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
“If people wrote their reviews on paper and put them into a real, physical library, I am sure that the Goodreads administrators would be very reluctant to pull them down from shelves and burn them. When you can get rid of a piece of writing just by clicking on a few links, there’s a temptation to believe that it’s less serious. But it isn’t. It’s just less clear what you’ve done.”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
“This book is irrelevant to Goodreads because you can’t buy it on Amazon. Also it talks about oppression, censorship etc. and no one really likes reading about that because it’s boring. Yet, let me tell you anyway.
The title of this book is The Image of Everyday Life in Press during the Martial Law, which is a little bit ridiculous because what could be read in Press those days when it was so heavily censored?”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
The title of this book is The Image of Everyday Life in Press during the Martial Law, which is a little bit ridiculous because what could be read in Press those days when it was so heavily censored?”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
“. . . I can see how the issue of exercising corporate control over users content is truly enraging here, on a site significantly made by these contributors. It’s unavoidable that we come to this, in my opinion (corporations always do), and GR/Amazon has all keys to the kingdom, but I can see why it’s so disappointing and enraging.
Your content is theirs to do with as they please, their software works as they want, your choices are take it or leave it.
The Internet is no longer for sharing (nor for porn!), it’s for corporations to exercise their control over users.”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
Your content is theirs to do with as they please, their software works as they want, your choices are take it or leave it.
The Internet is no longer for sharing (nor for porn!), it’s for corporations to exercise their control over users.”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
“And then they started deleting the protest reviews.
That was my line. When they started to stamp out dissent, actually to make it disappear with virtually no excuse for doing so...that’s not neglect. That’s not an overwhelmed person or people trying to figure it out. That’s an entity that has decided that they do not care, that they have moved on from the issue, do not see it as an issue, and is trying to avoid bad press. Or they are too far down the line to backtrack on what they’ve been doing and save face. They’re content with their wildly inconsistent policy enough to no longer care what effect it is having on their user base.
If you try to silence dissent, then something is very, very wrong.”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
That was my line. When they started to stamp out dissent, actually to make it disappear with virtually no excuse for doing so...that’s not neglect. That’s not an overwhelmed person or people trying to figure it out. That’s an entity that has decided that they do not care, that they have moved on from the issue, do not see it as an issue, and is trying to avoid bad press. Or they are too far down the line to backtrack on what they’ve been doing and save face. They’re content with their wildly inconsistent policy enough to no longer care what effect it is having on their user base.
If you try to silence dissent, then something is very, very wrong.”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
“By deciding what is, and is not, allowed to be discussed in a review, by removing discussion of social context, and saying that only the words on the page count, Goodreads is ignoring fifty years of development of literary criticism, and is engaging in censorship.”
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
― Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt
Reading Progress
November 4, 2013
– Shelved
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
tbr
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
2013-releases
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
fave-author
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
i-own
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
life-lessons
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
moral-of-the-story
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
non-fiction
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
philosophy
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
sad-tough-to-read
November 4, 2013
– Shelved as:
suspense
November 5, 2013
–
Started Reading
November 5, 2013
– Shelved as:
all-time-faves
November 5, 2013
– Shelved as:
fave-2013
November 5, 2013
–
Finished Reading
November 10, 2013
– Shelved as:
read-in-2013
