Shelfari

Infobox_Company
company_type = Private
company_name = Shelfari
company_
company_slogan = Read. Share. Explore.
foundation = October 2006
location = Seattle, WA
key_people = Josh Hug, Co-founder/CEOKevin Beukelman, Co-founder/Chief ArchitectMark Williamson, Co-founder
industry = Online book community
homepage = [http://www.shelfari.com/ www.shelfari.com]

Shelfari is a social cataloging website. Shelfari users build virtual bookshelves of the titles they own or have read, and can rate, review, tag, and discuss their books. Shelfari was launched on October 11, 2006 [cite news| first=John| last=Cook| url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/288229_shelfari11.html| title=Shelfari an online meeting place for bibliophiles| work=Seattle PI| date=2006-10-11| accessdate=2007-06-01] . In February 2007, Amazon.com invested $1 million in Shelfari, [cite news| first=Michael| last=Arrington| url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/25/amazon-invests-in-shelfari/| title=Social Networking for Bookworms| work=TechCrunch| date=2006-02-25| accessdate=2007-06-01] and moved to acquire it a year later in August of 2008. [cite news| first=Jason| lastKincaid| url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/25/amazon-aquires-shelfari-moves-to-corner-social-book-space/| title=Amazon Acquires Shelfari: Moves To Corner Book-Centric Social Networks| work=TechCrunch| date=2008-08-25| accessdate=2008-08-25] .

Criticism

Shelfari has received bad press for its "Invite Friends" page. Jesse Wegman, writing in "The New York Observer" in October 2007, complained that because he had "accidentally failed to uncheck the approximately 1,500 names in my Gmail address book that Shelfari had helpfully pre-checked", the system caused invitations to be sent, contrary to his intentions but "ostensibly" from his own address, to his entire network of contacts. [cite news| first=Jesse| last=Wegman| url=http://www.observer.com/2007/caught-shelfari-s-sticky-web-no-more-friends-please| title=Caught in Shelfari's Sticky Web: No More Friends, Please!| work=The New York Observer| date=2007-10-23| accessdate=2007-11-08] In November 2007, Shelfari was accused of astroturfing by Tim Spalding, the creator of LibraryThing, a competing social networking book site. [cite web|title=Shelfari Astroturfing: the Evidence|date=November 13, 2007|url=http://www.librarything.com/thingology/2007/11/shelfari-astroturfing-evidence.php|author=Tim Spalding|accessdate=2007-12-27] In a comment on another blog critical of Shelfari (primarily critcizing the "invitations" system), Josh Hug, the CEO, blamed the astroturfing on an intern not knowing better, and said that it had stopped. [cite web|title=Shelfari Stumbles|url=http://www.bookpatrol.net/2007/11/shelfari-stumbles.html|publisher=Book Patrol blog|author=Michael Lieberman|date=November 12, 2007|accessdate=2007-12-18 The comment reads: "As for the astroturfing, that was an unintended work of an unexperienced but well-meaning intern who failed to make himself known as he commented on blogs. That was not our intent and we were unaware that was going on. It has stopped."]

See also

* List of social networking websites
* Virtual community

References

External links

* [http://www.shelfari.com Shelfari]
* [http://shelfari.typepad.com Official Shelfari Blog]