Goodreads
Encyclopedia
Goodreads is a privately run "social cataloging" website started in December 2006 by Otis Chandler, a software engineer and entrepreneur. The website permits individuals to sign up and register books to create their library catalogs and reading lists. It also allows users to create their own groups of book suggestions and discussions. In December 2007, the site had over 650,000 members and over 10,000,000 books added. By January 2010, Goodreads had reached 2,900,000 members and 78,000,000 books added.
The first year of the company was run without any formal funding. In December 2007, Goodreads received their first round from angel investors, estimated at $750,000. The company raised additional funding from True Ventures in 2009.
In October 2010, the company opened its API enabling developers to access to its ratings and titles.
In 2011, Goodreads introduced an algorithm to suggest books based on the user's library.
A July 2011 article in The Louisville Courier Journal
noted that GoodReads had 5.2 million members.
The reason for starting Goodreads was because Chandler thought that reviews and recommendations about books were more valuable and more accurate when they came from friends instead of the computer generation “If you read this, you might like this” that is so common on sites like Amazon.
However, this “If you liked this, you might like this” feature has now become a common place on the Goodreads website. To generate the list of books that would be interesting to the user, when the user first joins the site, they rate 20 books and the list of recommended books evolves after the user posts other books that they have read or are in the process of reading. Many readers enjoy this feature and it actually helps them to become a more active user of Goodreads.
Included within the Goodreads website are also many discussion boards which can relate to a multitude of topics. The discussion boards allow you to connect with other people from around the country that are also interested in that same topic. The discussion boards can range from topics like Nicholas Sparks books to Poetry to broader groups that pick a new book to read each month.
The first year of the company was run without any formal funding. In December 2007, Goodreads received their first round from angel investors, estimated at $750,000. The company raised additional funding from True Ventures in 2009.
In October 2010, the company opened its API enabling developers to access to its ratings and titles.
In 2011, Goodreads introduced an algorithm to suggest books based on the user's library.
A July 2011 article in The Louisville Courier Journal
The Courier-Journal
The Courier-Journal, locally called "The C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.- Origins :The...
noted that GoodReads had 5.2 million members.
The reason for starting Goodreads was because Chandler thought that reviews and recommendations about books were more valuable and more accurate when they came from friends instead of the computer generation “If you read this, you might like this” that is so common on sites like Amazon.
However, this “If you liked this, you might like this” feature has now become a common place on the Goodreads website. To generate the list of books that would be interesting to the user, when the user first joins the site, they rate 20 books and the list of recommended books evolves after the user posts other books that they have read or are in the process of reading. Many readers enjoy this feature and it actually helps them to become a more active user of Goodreads.
Included within the Goodreads website are also many discussion boards which can relate to a multitude of topics. The discussion boards allow you to connect with other people from around the country that are also interested in that same topic. The discussion boards can range from topics like Nicholas Sparks books to Poetry to broader groups that pick a new book to read each month.