Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Thanks for agreeing to the interview, Bobbert! Please try not to steal anything while you're here.

First question: You've used the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ website and have played World of Warcraft. Have you become part of something you'd consider a community in either of these spaces? Both? Neither?

If so, or if not, why/why not?

Where the hell are you, Bobbert?

I wouldn't say I've really become part of the community in either place. More so in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, because I feel there's more room in my life for a thoughtful reading community than an online gaming community. I don't really talk about books with people in real life very often, so Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ serves as a cyber-book club. It's also intellectually driven, rather than the WOW community, which is game-driven.

I was always hesitant to get fully immersed in the WOW world and community, because I knew how easy it was to spend more time there than in the real world. That isn't a problem with Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, because it's not time-sensitive. I can come back to a conversation or review thread days later, whereas in WOW, any community interaction takes place in real time, so requires a specific time commitment.

While I'm more involved in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, I still wouldn't say I'm part of a community. There are people whose reviews I follow and/or occasionally leave comments on, but for the most part they're people I knew in real life before Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. I am aware of the community, but I don't regularly post enough to really be involved in it.

So, in both of these spaces, you feel like it has been your choice to not become more involved? As opposed to their being any obstructions making it hard to join the community?

Then again, I suppose you could view the time investment in WoW as a kind of obstruction. From your experience, in either of these spaces, are there other obstructions making it difficult to become socially involved?

Question part 2: mathematical precision isn't necessary here, but try to give me a rundown of about how much time you spend on different aspects of Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.
(For example, 80% reading reviews, 15% writing them, 5% insulting people's reading tastes through comments)

I think the time investment was definitely an obstruction with WoW, as were some of the players. Just like people trolling looking for people to insult on goodreads, the players who wandered around killing people repeatedly were an obstruction. I'd say that's the main obstruction at Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. That my reviews and comments are on public display, and I've seen plenty of people hassled on their reviews. So I'm somewhat hesitant to really put myself on the line in reviews or comment threads.

But really I think it's that I didn't come to either WoW or GR for a community. I went to WoW as entertainment to play a video game. I came to GR to write and therefore remember what I thought of books, and occasionally discuss or at least read discussions of books.

I'd say I probably spend 85% reading reviews and author blogs through GR, 5% writing, and 10% commenting.

I always hope to write longer, more in-depth and interesting reviews, but by the time I finish a book, I'm usually more interested in starting a new one than thinking more about one I'm done with.

So, how many friends do you have on goodreads who you met here? Of those friends, do you interact with them all on occasion? What kind of interaction do you have with them?

Question part 2: As you read reviews or look at people's profiles, are there things people do or say that seem noobish? Have you noticed any visible any behavioral differences between experienced goodreaders and new people?

4 of my 26 friends are people I met on GR. For the most part I just follow their reviews, and occasionally comment (same as the friends I know in meatspace). One is Neil Gaiman, so I don't really have any interaction with him. In fact...okay, he's not my friend any more. It just seemed silly and fanboyish once I thought about it.

Okay, the ones I met on GR are the ones I interact with the most on the whole (if only by reading their reviews).

I think many new people to the site write very simple reviews at first, maybe only stars. Then they tend to get more in-depth the more reviews a person writes. I know that was the case with myself. I know some people only really use the site to keep track of their reading, but generally I assume that the more timid or terse a person is in their reviews and comments, the noobisher they are. It seems like the people who have been on the site for a while have developed their writing voice more in one direction or another.

To clarify, the reason I don't interact with most of my meatspace friends on the site is that they aren't generally really active. The ones who are, I interact with quite a bit. But the percentage is a lot higher with my GR-only friends.

That's a trend I've noticed too as people write more reviews on here: it seems to take a while to start developing a unique voice. Do you feel like noobs or people outside of the community get treated differently from others? If so, how?

And, how would you compare this to noob treatment in WOW?

Note: We finished the interview via instant messages on April 19, 2011. Here's the transcription of that conversation, with the most off-topic bits taken out. The interview ends abruptly because we simply moved into other topics and didn't declare the interview finished until quite a while later.

Bobbert: yo

Michael: wzup?

Okay, I'm taking a sec to look over what we've talked about thus far in the group..

Bobbert: obie kaybie

Michael: Okay, so, Bobbert, tell me, have you ever thought about quitting Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ?

Bobbert: Not really. It's never been a nuisance to me, so I've had no reason to quit. It's more mentally stimulating than most websites, so I don't usually feel like I'm wasting time when I'm on it.
As opposed to facebook, for example

Michael: So, Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ seems like a more useful space to hang out in? In what ways do you find it more stimulating?

Bobbert: I feel like the discussions are generally more intelligent, and I don't get a ton of unwanted invitations for crap.

Michael: lol, I'm witcha on the second part of that.

Bobbert: I don't know if I'd call it useful, but maybe just say "less useless"

Michael: Do you feel like participating in the site involves any kinds of learning?

Bobbert: I think that hearing different points of view on books than my own forces me to look at them differently. So it's enlightening in the way any book discussion is

Also, because of some of the reviewers I follow, I learn about things I would never consciously seek out to read.

For example, Brian's review of a legal companion where he broke down the Mos Eisley Millennium Falcon hiring into legal terms.

Michael: I loved that review, lol

Bobbert: Yeah! I think it depends which reviews you read, but there's fascinating stuff people are writing on there.

Michael: What about in terms of writing? Do you feel reviewing has had an impact on your writing?

Bobbert: Do you mean reading other reviews has changed the way I review?

Michael: Either that, or writing reviews has changed the way you write...not specifically the way you write reviews, but the way you write in other contexts as well


Bobbert: I don't really write much, but I've recently tried to write more, and I find that it's easier for me to write personal nonfiction... that is, themed and focused writing about myself and my life, rather than the "dear diary, this is what happened today" type of journaling I'd done in the past.

. . . .

Michael: Okay, next question:
What is the most fun experience you've ever had on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ?

Bobbert: Anyway, yeah, I think it's made it a bit easier to focus my personal writing, because I feel like I have to in a review. And reading other reviews has made me think about different ways of writing a review.

Sorry. that was last question

Michael: No problemo, I didn't mean to cut you off

Bobbert: Probably the most fun experience would just be reading really enjoyable reviews. I enjoy poking around, but really good reviews are the best

Michael: What about the most unpleasant experience you've had on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ?

Bobbert: Haters.

I mean, people who comment on reviews with un-helpful, mean-spirited comments

Michael: Have you had this happen on your reviews, or just seen it on others' reviews?

Bobbert: I don't think it's happened on any of my reviews, so I generally just ignore it. But sometimes I'll read on hoping that someone will give them what-for, but they don't generally give up easily

Bobbert: I've wondered why none of my reviews have gotten a response like that. Maybe they're just too much opinion and too little evidence for people to bother with

Michael: I don't know what causes trolls to do what they do. I've only had one or two passive aggressive comments on my reviews, and in both cases, the troller backed off after I'd retorted the first time

Are haters more annoying in WoW or on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ?

Bobbert: WoW, because you can't just ignore or block them. Because it's a physical space, if someone wants to piss you off, they can do any number of things until you just log off
On GR, you can just ignore or block even the most annoying and they'll get bored.
Sent at 7:24 PM on Tuesday

Bobbert: Also, because it's a more intellectual crowd on GR, haters tend to mask their twerpery more

Michael: lol

Bobbert: there's very little of this on GR
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael: yes, it's much more a part of the discourse in WoW
Can you think of the worst experience you had in WoW with a hater?

Bobbert: Just general camping I think

Bobbert: I mean, I've heard of much worse, but just being killed 5 or 6 times in a row combined with people writing obnoxious things to me was enough to make me quit playing
And it seems to be more frequent on WoW

Bobbert: In GR people usually argue because they disagree with you or want to feel smart, but just being around is enough to get camped in WoW

Michael: How hard was it for you to quit WoW?

Bobbert: Not at all. I never really played all that much. There was too much tedium for me to really get into it

That combined with a monthly charge and the annoying players, it was only a matter of time

I would have liked it much more without the other players, which was sort of what sets it apart from other games

Michael: lol

How hard would it be to leave goodreads?

Bobbert: Harder. I wouldn't say it fills a void in my life or anything, but I do definitely look forward to reading the reviews of some reviewers, and writing a review is what I think of as the final step in reading a book.

It's also my most common website to poke around on

But when my wife and I went on vacation for a week, I didn't get on at all and can't say I really missed it much

Michael: So, it's entertaining and you're likely to keep returning, but you wouldn't feel like a piece of your social activities was missing if you stopped?

Bobbert: Not really. There are some people I'd interact with less if it weren't for GR, but I'd just have to call them more

Bobbert: But I'm not as active in comment threads as many.

Michael: What about groups? Are you active in any goodreads groups?

Bobbert: No. I honestly didn't even know there were groups on goodreads
You don't just mean discussions, do you?

Michael: Well, discussion groups, I guess....Like "The Extra Cool Group" that I invited you to?

Bobbert: Well, I guess I'm in that group, but I've probably only commented in threads in it once or twice.

Michael: okay, so you haven't joined any others, then?

Bobbert: no. I really think i use it more personally than many. The reviews I write are mostly for me, same as the ones I read. I don't have many comment discussions that have gone more than two or three responses

Bobbert: hold on. just found a role-playing group. Holla!

Michael: Yeah, there are quite a few of them, although I haven't joined any. Online roleplay like that seems like a sloooooooow process...but I say that having never tried it
I bet you can find some Twilight roleplaying groups, and fulfill all of your wishes to be a sparkly vampire!

Bobbert: Hence the holla

I don't think I have the internet attention span

. . . .