A little breaking news...

...if you don't already know. If you haven't been on GoodReads today, or if you aren't a member of the Feedback group, you may have missed the memo. Apparently, GoodReads has been taking the accusations of bullying very seriously and have decided to update and enforce their policies. Hateful comments between venomous readers and spiteful authors are being erased; reviews, bookshelves, and booklists that personally attack authors are being permanently deleted even as I type this entry.

Personally, I'm pleased to see that GoodReads is restricting negative reviews to book content, if only because I'm a very literal person, and GR is very literally a book review site as much as a social network... I was also a bit relieved to see Admins stepping up and trying to rein in the animosity...until this announcement spurred on a whole new round of whining.

Who would complain? People who have the most to lose, the people who enjoyed flaming, spamming, and  bullying. The people who had hundred of books listed under shelf-titles that were meant to hurt and enflame. And most of those people who are outraged that they can no longer give voice to their hatred of a fellow human being, have threatened to leave GoodReads forever.

Personally, I don't think GR is gonna change their minds over a threat like that, I think it just makes Admins' jobs a lot easier if the unpleasant little firestarters walked away... And wouldn't a just be easier all around, if a negative review wasn't immediately flamed by an angry author or deranged fan? Less stressful, if authors didn't have to have their personal lives dragged through the muck by someone they'd never even met? Wouldn't it be fun if, when reading through a book's reviews, you found they were actually about the book?

But now people who actually use GR for books, have gotta listen to those people complain until they make good on their threats and leave...