Michael’s Comments (group member since Apr 10, 2011)

Michael’s comments from the Goodreads Interviews group.

It's interesting that you've thought about deleting your Goodreads account, yet you have a Facebook profile. I've been tempted to delete that thing quite a few times, but I still haven't...I've never been as concerned about privacy with my Goodreads account. Despite the foul mouth I often have on here.

How much time do you spend on goodreads? Is it a daily activity? Multiple times a day?

Since that's a short answer question, here's the next: What is the most entertaining, fun, amazing thing you can recall happening on Goodreads? I.e., when you think back, what's the most fun you've had on here?

When it comes to interacting with people on Goodreads, do you find that the noobs are easy to spot? If so--or if not--what seem like noobish things for people to do on Goodreads? What makes people stand out as either rude or inexperienced?

Wow, that's awkward. That's a lot to ask of someone out of the blue when you don't even know the person.

We've talked a bit about becoming a part of the community, so I want to talk a bit about leaving the community. Would it be difficult to no longer be a part of the goodreads community(s) after you've been involved in it for as long as you have?

What would make it difficult to just decide one day not to come back?

How do people react to those that act like noobs? From your experience, do they get a different response from those who know how the community(s) work here?

Do you feel like you've ever helped someone new to the community become a part of it?

That's very interesting! So, what caused you to "friend" someone back then, if it wasn't based on their book commonalities?

Do you feel like, as far as communities go, goodreads is a hard one to become a part of? What aspects of the website itself help make community easier? What makes it harder? (Other than notification issues, which I've been having all day....)

You say they're all people you interact with to varying degrees. Would you say you interact on a semi-regular basis with everyone on your friend list? Most of your friend list? What do you see as being the uniting characteristics of those who you DO want to be in regular contact with? Is it mostly based on personality, reading habits, non-book interests?

So, when you first started on the site, did you have any friends from real life who were already on goodreads?

Most of the people I get friend requests from are really just interested in reading my reviews, which is great (especially if they vote for me - I'm a whore at heart) but it isn't what I consider a friend.

Haha, I knew it!

As far as the idea of "friends" go, how many of your friends you've met on goodreads have become IRL friends--if not people you've actually met, at least people you keep up with on a more personal level?

What about friends that span multiple online communities?

If you want to expound upon those ideas, feel free; but, since they're short-answer questions, here's one that's a little more in depth.

You've been on goodreads for a while, and you're well liked by people, and know a good number of them. Do you feel that you can recognize someone who is new to the community(s) of goodreads without actually looking at the date they joined? If so, what characteristics identify someone who is new to this space?

I can remember a very similar time period when I had friends who voted on some reviews, but rarely if ever commented or voted on mine. It does seem like a bit of a "foot in the door" thing. What do you think causes those on Goodreads to be such snobby fucksticks? In other words, why is it hard for a newer member to start gaining attention from the established people?

Take your time about defining community! I've been trying to answer that question all semester.

When you think back to the transition from your IRL group of friends to the not-real-life ones, do you feel like the structure of the website helped in making these friendships develop? In what ways did it make it easy to meet people? And/or, in what ways does the way Goodreads is structured make it hard to become friends with new people?

Hi, Candy, thanks for agreeing to this interview! Since your true identity is hidden, feel free to say what you really think about people, no matter how cruel those things might be. Especially if they're about Caris.

As an opening question, how long would you say you've been involved in Goodreads as a community? Did it take you a while to start feeling like it was a community, or did that happen right away?

Perhaps we should start a little more basic than that. Based on your own, personal definition of "community," do you believe Goodreads qualifies?

Hi, John D., thanks for agreeing to this interview! Since your true identity is hidden, feel free to say what you really think about people, no matter how cruel those things might be.

As an opening question, how long would you say you've been involved in Goodreads as a community? Did it take you a while to start feeling like it was a community, or did that happen right away?

And, as a question related to that one: based on your own, personal definition of "community," do you believe Goodreads qualifies?

Hi, Liberty, thanks for agreeing to this interview! Since your true identity is hidden, feel free to say what you really think about people, no matter how cruel those things might be. Especially if the cruel things you have to say are about Caris.

As an opening question, how long would you say you've been involved in Goodreads as a community? Did it take you a while to start feeling like it was a community, or did that happen right away?

Perhaps we should start a little more basic than that. Based on your own, personal definition of "community," do you believe Goodreads qualifies?