A home for casual readers and bona-fide bookworms alike, Goodreads users recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they’ve read and would like to read, find their next favorite book, form book clubs and much more. - About Goodreads

Goodreads was launched in December 2006 and has grown to over 6.3 Million users who have shared reviews on over 210 Million book titles. It is the number one social media network for readers and book recommendations. Goodreads looks at the titles you have read and the ratings and reviews you have written to create reading recommendations based on those of members with similar tastes. 

How to use Goodreads: 

As a Goodreads member, you have the ability to add books to your virtual bookshelves by browsing or searching for title, author, or ISBN. The Goodreads mobile app also allows you to search for books by scanning the barcode on a book using the phone’s camera (for iPhoneand Android). There are three default shelves: Read, To-Read, and Currently Reading. They are mutually exclusive, which means a title can only belong to one of these shelves at a time. However, members are able to build as many additional shelves as they would like, such as “reference” or “never finished”. Books can belong on as many non-exclusive shelves as desired. 

Once you have made 20 ratings, Goodreads will begin to make recommendations for you. The more books you rate, the better your recommendations will be. Recommendations are made according to genre as well as tailored to the contents of your individual shelves. The Goodreads recommendation engine is based on the principle that the best book recommendations come from friends. Unlike Amazon and Barnes and Noble, Goodreads recommendations aren’t based on sales data or skewed towards popular titles, they are instead based on the opinions and reading habits of members who have show similar taste in books (more about the Goodreads recommendation engine on Mashable). Yet another way to find new reading material on Goodreads is to add friends. All of your ratings and reviews will be visible to your friends, and when your friends perform any activity on Goodreads, it will show up on your main page in your Recent Updates feed. You can also link your Goodreads account with Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress, and Blogger. 

Goodreads lets people connect, regardless of geographic location, to share common reading experiences. One way to do that is to join one of the Goodreads Groups. Goodreads Groups are generated by members and are similar to traditional book clubs, but instead of meeting exclusively face to face to talk about the book being read, Goodreads hosts the discussion on a board (for example: The FFL’s Meet the Authors Book Club). Goodreads also offers trivia, fun quizzes, challenges, giveaways, and member generated book lists. 

The Good:

• Socially driven.
• Recommendations based on actual reader opinions.
• Interactive.
• Free!
• Easy to use.

The Bad:

• More suited to social interaction than maintaining a collection. 
• Cannot search by genre or topic. 

The Competition:

Librarything is another book-based social network. It has some of the same features as Goodreads such as adding books to a collection, writing reviews, and getting recommendations. Librarything is also sometimes used by libraries and other organizations to keep inventory of a collection. It is more focused on cataloging than social sharing.

Shelfari is the Amazon owned social reading network. It uses your past purchases on Amazon.com as well as your own additions to make recommendations. Because it is owned by Amazon, it makes every possible attempt to get you to purchase the books that are recommended to you. 

My Experience:

I started using Goodreads about two years ago. At first, I just liked keeping track of my to-read list. But then I realized how many other uses there are. I have added some friends whose taste in books I share, and found others who are interested in my recommendations. Right now I am working on developing a collection of board books for a local public library and I’ve been using Goodreads to see ratings and reviews of board books to determine if a title is worth considering. I’m also using Goodreads to keep track of the board books I have chosen to include in the collection so that other people or librarians interested in board books can use the work I put into evaluating titles to begin their own collection. 

Conclusion:

With such a large number of members and integration with most popular social media networks, Goodreads will continue to be a fun and useful resource for book recommendations. The mobile app allows members to use all of the functionality of the browser based webpage as well as adding special features such as using your mobile device’s camera to scan barcodes. Goodreads has also recently introduced features to connect your e-reader with your Goodreads account. For example, if you have a Kindle:

It will automate setting your “currently-reading” and “read” shelf books based on what you’ve shared on your Kindle. It will also sync your highlights from the kindle to your Goodreads quotes.

Goodreads was not the first social media network to be built around the reading experience, but it has show such growth and adaptability to make Goodreads a useful and fun platform for reading-related social interaction. 

From the policy group we are working on the opportunity to redevelop an internal social media policy. The internal policy should be general enough to apply across multiple types of media but also specific in the etiquette expect of the client’s staff. For the external policy we are looking at just a few updates and minor changes. We are also proposing the addition of an abstract or summary at the top of the policies, allowing people to understand the larger concepts without getting caught up in all the details.

We are in progress of dividing in to two sub groups to tackle the two policies. After the first drafts we will be in contact with the client for a check up on the polices to see if the policies are aligning properly with their goals.

Hello and welcome to the #Rotoloclass blog!

I’m your TA, @AlyssaHenry. It’s going to be an exciting semester, and there’s so much to look forward to…

We’ll be covering all kinds of topics, including: Twitter, location-based services, blogging, ROI, building an online presence as a brand, social media #fails, privacy, viral videos and more!

Professor Rotolo has also invited some really awesome guest speakers to Skype into class and talk about their professional experience using social media.  You can see the full list here.

For the first time in the history of #Rotoloclass, we’ll be working together as a class to build a social strategy for a local organization… CNY Central! We’re happy to welcome them to the #Rotoloclass experience.

You can get started by following me, @rotolo, @rotoloclass and @cnycentral on Twitter (if you don’t have an account, make one!). You’re encouraged to use all your technology in class (dumbphones, smartphones, laptops, iPads, fax machines, tricorder, time turners…), just make sure you use the class hashtag, #rotoloclass, when you’re tweeting.

We’re looking forward to turning you into social media #rockstars!

One last thing… I hope you like Ke$ha.

Alyssa

This week we are supposed to check out a company and their social media presence…

Well, it took me a while to decide exactly what company I wanted to look at — but you know what sold me? One word, Mayhem.

For those of you that might not know what that means.. take a look.

<iframe width=”425” height=”349” src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/tZXM_g3mqew” frameborder=”0” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yep. Mayhem.

Sure, Allstate had me laughing with the entire Mayhem campaign. But could they use it effectievly on the social media side of things?

The first place I went was Youtube, where I found that Allstate has their own YouTube channel. This is a welcome first step, it is very nicely decorated with their slogan — You’re in good hands.. The youtube channel was updated several hours ago, and the company has nearly 10 million upload views… pretty solid.

This site was helpfully linked to another social media site that Allstate runs — the Mayhem facebook page. There are over half a million people that “like” the Mayhem facebook page, and there are plenty of people that have posted on his wall — even 2 minutes ago.

Allstate does have a disclaimer on the page though — “Please note that our policy is to not accept or consider unsolicited ideas, concepts or materials that you may submit or post on this website for use in advertising, marketing or public relations materials (“Submissions”).” 

This seems weird? Isn’t the point of social media like facebook to interact with fans? 

Well, on this facebook page, there is another link to another Allstate page — The Offical Allstate page

This Allstate page only has 30 thousand “likes” —- interesting, that is a huge difference from the Mayhem page. Clearly Mayhem has a lot more power in the social media world than Allstate actually does.

My first criticsm of Allstate social media, why are they not being more customer friendly and interacting where it counts — on the Mayhem page?

To their credit, there are countless interactions with comments on the actual Allstate facebook wall, and they are very personal — espcecially if people had complaints. They made it very easy to interact with the company…

So what about twitter?

Yep. Allstate has a Twitter. 

The first thing that I looked at on here was if the company tweeted back to people — and yes they do.  Check this out from today:

@bsarsgard sorry to hear about ur frustration. Please DM me if I can help in anyway. ^cf

Thats a pretty good step.

As for if anything is unique with Allstate and their social media? It’s Mayhem. That’s the difference… and from what I can see Allstate hasn’t realized the potiential that Mayhem could have for the company on a social media scale.

Whitman students are seeking participants to answer their survey abour careers and recruitment in technology and social media.

Click here to complete the survey and help them out: http://ow.ly/4CHU6

All participants will be entered in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon.com giftcard.

Alyssa

There are countless (or at least a whole lot) of social technologies that focus on music.  Whether users are sharing their favorite artists and albums, broadcasting what they are listening to at any given time, looking at what music their friends like, or disseminating original content, there are a plethora of apps for any given situation.  Music in and of itself is a very social experience – people like to listen to music, talk to friends about it, share what they like, and search for more.  Emerging social technologies have enhanced this process by making the experience even more social and interactive. 

It was hard to narrow down such a broad field, but I decided to examine a few different services that allow users to share what they are listening to.  I chose five different services that I’m interested in (or wanted to learn more about), with each having their very distinct differences.  What all have in common is that each allows the user to share what they are listening to and to learn more.

Pandora Radio comes to the forefront as the leading music recommendation service.  Part of the Music Genome Project, Pandora prompts users to enter a song, artist, or genre, and a radio station is created that includes the entered parameter and music similar to it, based on a great deal of characteristics (similar artists, styles, genre, song styles, etc.).  Stations become “smarter” as users can provide feedback on each song.

Users are able to create their own profile, through which they can save stations and bookmark songs and artists.  You can also look up your friends’ profiles, which includes their stations and bookmarked songs and artists – this is made especially easy by allowing you to log in through Facebook.  Users can furthermore share what they’re currently listening to on Facebook, Twitter, or email.

The free version of Pandora includes ads and up to 40 hours/month of music streaming.  Pandora One, the $36/year paid version, includes a desktop app, unlimited listening, no ads, more skips, and higher quality audio.  Pandora also offers extensive mobile capabilities, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre, and Windows Mobile platforms.

My Take:  Pandora is a great tool for discovering new music, sharing your musical interests, and seeing what your friends like – especially because of its widespread use in the U.S.  For me, I can only take so much at a time because of the ads, repetition, and lack of control, and I personally don’t see the paid version to be worth it.

Rdio is a paid online music service with an extensive catalog of artists and albums.  Available for $4.99/month for web access or $9.99/month for both web and mobile, Rdio is a cost effective tool for providing a huge library of music to you wherever you go.  Users can follow their friends, and Rdio will display the top artists and albums in your network on your home page.  Rdio also connects with Facebook, Twitter, and last.fm, so you can always share what you are listening to with your friends and followers outside of the service.

Some of the other features of Rdio are that it allows for direct purchase of songs and albums, and it matches with your iTunes or Windows Media Player library (so you can add songs on Rdio to expand on your already existing library).  One of its best features is its mobile app (available on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows 7), which even allows for syncing for offline playing.

My Take:  If you’re willing to shell out what you would for your monthly Netflix subscription, Rdio is a great value.  Its extensive library and control makes it much for attractive than even Pandora One.  Rdio’s social side also provides a great way to see what your friends’ aggregate interests are.  If you’re curious, the service offers a free seven-day trial (with no credit card) so you can check it out.

Ping is Apple’s own music-based social network, which launched with iTunes 10 in September 2010.  Ping allows iTunes users to follow artists and friends to find out what other artists they like and what albums they buy.  It also provides recommended artists to follow and upcoming concerts happening near where you are, as well as the ability to write reviews and develop a profile. 

Ping has the ability to connect with Twitter to find friends and share activity, but it lacks Facebook integration, even though this was something that was initially planned.  Ping has received mixed reviews, but many regard it to be a tech fail.

My Take:  As it’s only accessible in iTunes/iOS and lacks integration with other social services, I personally don’t see any value in this standalone social network.  (Plus, no one I know uses it.)  I’ve even gone as far as disabling Ping in iTunes’ parental settings. 

Shazam is a music identification service that traces its company roots all the way back to 1999.  As the forerunner of music ID services, it allowed users in the UK as early as 2002 to dial a shortcode, allow their phone microphone to capture music, and receive a text message response containing song information.

Today, Shazam is a mobile app for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows 7.  Once a song is identified, or “tagged,” you will be provided with information about purchasing, similar tracks, and information about the artist.  You can also see reviews, bios, discographies, tour dates, and song lyrics, as well as your friends’ tagged music. 

The free version of Shazam includes five tags per month, whereas the paid version ($5) includes unlimited tagging, recommendations, and integration with last.fm, Pandora, and Spotify. 

SoundHound is another music identification service that contains many of the same features of Shazam.  Though only for iOS and Android, it features faster music identification, iPod integration, bookmarking, social sharing (Facebook/Twitter), links to purchase, embedded YouTube videos, and lyrics.  It also prominently features geotagging, Pandora station creation, and the ability to identify from signing or humming into your mobile device (which works adequately, at least based on my less-than-stellar attempts).

Finally, the huge draw is the price point.  The free version contains unlimited tags, and the $5 version contains unlimited tags and no ads.

My Take:  At face value, I definitely think that SoundHound is a better deal than Shazam, especially for the free unlimited tagging and added features.  Shazam does have first-mover advantage (more of your friends probably use it), and in reviewing blogs and reviews, it appears that there are varying reactions as to which one is more accurate with song identification.  Especially if you’re using either service more for novelty’s sake, I’d say that it’s definitely up to user preference, so it’s definitely worth playing around with both.

Nice comparison of the pros & cons of each:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/shazam-soundhound-perfect-song-identifier/

Hi #rotoloclass!

Hope you’re looking forward to tomorrow’s visit from @Wegmans!

I have responded to all the emails I received at rotoloclass@gmail.com with your trending assigment choices. If you emailed in a choice and haven’t gotten a response, please let me know!

Also, if you didn’t email in your preferences, please do so ASAP. Your choices were due yesterday, so I have assigned many of the items from the list already. If you haven’t submitted them, since they’re late you may not receive your top choices.

Here are the assignments so far:

Undergraduates:

Name Assignment

Nick Desloge Tripit

YooJung Hong WhatsApp

Gregory Miller Quora

Christopher Becker Kik messenger

Rich Tehan Yelp

Nichole May Groupon

Eric Liao Words with Friends

May Lo Instagram

Jonathan Tse Tumblr

Christina Kimble StumbleUpon

Steven Mazur SCVNGR

Evan Gibbons Vevo

Graduate students:

Name Assignment

Jennifer Deuel & Kate Monohan TV

Gretchen Schroeder & Lauren Newman Group Messaging

Kim Brown & Maren Guse Food and Reviews

Jennifer Liddy Location-based

Jiayao Sun; Ting-Ya Wang Coupons & deals

Mukta Phatak Q&A

Wenjie Xu, Shi Li Others (personal branding)

Elizabeth Ruscitto, Elise Trent Blogging

Marc Szot & Ryan Mayer Video

Reminder: Links to your viral videos are due tomorrow before class! Upload your videos to YouTube and email the link to rotoloclass@gmail.com with the names of your team members who worked on it.

Thanks and see you all tomorrow! Tweet me with any questions :)

Alyssa