Quitting Goodreads

Finding The Exit.

What's the correct modern way of saying "A lot of ink has been spilled"? Anyway, Goodreads and me, we're trying to break up. By trying I mean I keep hitting Delete Account, Yes I Am Sure, Yes, Really Sure, STOP CALLING ME and Goodreads... keeps phoning. I've turned off all my notifications, shut it down, sworn I want all my content to go away forever - and the next day there are new comments on my reviews. It's sort of like trying to leave Facebook, but we will get it sorted out. Goodreads never really met my needs. It had a lot of author sockpuppeting (people complain about Amazon's review inflation?). The interface was clunky. I never really discovered books on Goodreads the way I do on blogs. But Goodreads worked for other people so I provided content there for the people that said "Wow, I wish you'd do something at Goodreads too."

Stalkers & Pedophiles, Oh My.

We all know what happened and we all know why and we all know how things are being rewritten on an hourly basis to try and justify unjustifiable events. I figured, after the utter fail of Huffington Post that Goodreads was taking their time to get things right. Then they came out for the stalkers. Of course, it's all coded and worded and finessed and blah blah blah but I don't care how sorry you are baby, when you hit me in the face I notice. People tell you who they are all damn day but are very careful when they show you. Once someone is stalking their points don't matter anymore. If they have them, if they don't have them, all the same. What matters is that stalking is wrong and feeding into it by offering cookies of any kind suggests that crazy stalking is a good tool to get things done. This way lies insanity and AOL.

Every Moral Has A Story.

I realize people believe in changing things from the inside. People don't like throwing babies out with bathwater. That's just not me. Screw me over and I'm done with you. I don't care if you're an author with so many sockpuppets you bought a prosthetic limb or a web site that is trying to service too many masters and pleasing none. I don't have time to guide you into the brighter lights. I pack my bag and go. It is a very big internet. There are many places to see. (Places that enjoy having free content to monetize. Trust me, I'm old. I've been giving it away for a long time.) So Huffington Post and Goodreads will carry on fine without me. But I'll carry on even better with them. The lovely thing about removing someone from your life is that they're gone. (I miss Netflix about zero times a day.) There is always another path, often leading unexpectedly beautiful places. To find it all you have to do is wander off.

TL:DR - Westboro Church showed up on Goodreads' front lawn and Goodreads signed over the property.