I have a one-star review on Goodreads for a book I haven't written, a book that was cancelled and the contract rolled over to a different novel—but some asshat decided to search Goodreads for my name and one-star EVERYTHING whether or not it existed.
https://mastodon.social/@dangillmor/114740891220220670
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@cstross
I don't know if that's any consolation, but on account of reviewing being a job, I don't put stars on things online for free.
I don't know if that's any consolation, but on account of reviewing being a job, I don't put stars on things online for free.
And I also don't care about said ratings by people who obviously are willing to work for free for large corps.
(though I accept that averages of thousands, even with the proviso above, likely carry some information)
@cstross I think you've stumbled upon an interesting concept here; the literary equivalent of a Trap Street or Mountweazel. A fictitious entry designed to detect various types of misuse of a data set, usually to prevent copyright theft, but in this case to detect fake or malicious reviewers. Perhaps Goodreads or others could think about intentionally creating this type of entry for this purpose.
@cstross
I vaguely remember seeing a one star review for The Regicide Report on Amazon, and thinking "But Charlie hasn't finished writing it yet, let alone handed it in???"
It's not there now, so hopefully Amazon got a clue.
(Some people are Utter Bastards.) 3:O((>
@cstross Man, that level of pettiness requires commitment.
@cstross Sounds like a smear campaign, even if a small one, to me.
You might not be the only target. 🤔
@gimulnautti Oh, for sure it was a smear campaign! (I think it was either early in the Trump 1 administration, or late in the second GWB term.) Authoritarian right wingers don't like my books for some reason.
@cstross They really do like working hard on hating people. What a job!
@cstross Malicious asshattery aside, I seem to be missing the logic of why Goodreads or any other site would even list non-existent books, let alone allow reviews of them. 🤔
@reay Goodreads promiscuously hoovers up anything that gets included in a publisher's database of titles—which include forthcoming ones, which may later be withdrawn. And Goodreads never deletes anything (because why?).
@cstross I’ve seen other non- existent books getting 5 stars. The whole thing is sketchy. :(
Sorry to hear your “fan” is choosing the malicious route.
@CStamp It was years ago. But the moral of the story is, assume star ratings on Goodreads are worth exactly what you pay for them. (And do not read the reader reviews, period.)
@cstross @CStamp As a reader (who does not write either books or reviews), I find the reviews interesting in a sort of car-crash-fascination mode, seeing what the people who write the reviews completely missed that I, a slow and not especially perceptive reader, found obvious. There seems to be a set of people who pay only enough attention to the books they read to write a plausible "review" and move on without really interrogating anything.
@cstross I managed to get my friends to use story graph, but it's outside of the ecosystem so is a bit rough
@cstross you don't need to go against Amazon's legal. You probably just need the form that tells the semblance of a moderation team that there are some bad and obviously fake reviews. Then stand back and let Amazon smite them for contempt of business model.
@jamesb192 Already complained. The response from Goodreads moderation team was that the review was not in violation of their terms of service and could remain!
@cstross
Are the attackers in principle identifiable?
Is it libel?
Might a group of authors seek redress?
Are the attackers in principle identifiable?
Is it libel?
Might a group of authors seek redress?
@cstross
Is there a viable alternative to Goodreads that has a future? Storygraph, no?
Is there a viable alternative to Goodreads that has a future? Storygraph, no?
@svenvabar The problem with Goodreads is not that there are no alternatives, it's just that Goodreads is a subsidiary of Amazon with enormous firepower (too many readers use it). Goodreads delenda est!
@cstross
Well yes, but that is why we need to use and promote some alternatives, so that people would use less Goodreads. Long shot but still.
Well yes, but that is why we need to use and promote some alternatives, so that people would use less Goodreads. Long shot but still.
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