Many of Goodread's top users are wiping all of their content from the site just before they take refuge in formerly less popular sites.

I feel the community that GR has spent so much time in creating is falling apart. But does that mean GR will fall? I'm not sure. The average reader may still look at GR for reviews and be completely unaware to this whole debacle; who knows they may not even care! If readers don't care about any of this then Goodreads (because of its connection with Amazon) will be virtually unaffected by its censorship activities.

If that's true and Goodreads is still a huge site that greatly affects books sales, this would mean that Goodreads successfully censored more people than anyone else in recent American history.

Stuff to think about.

Since so few users of the site even know about what has been going on I think they'll get away with it. Their top content providers will leave, but otherwise they'll be unaffected and merely turn into Amazon Jr.

They won't fail. Far too many ageda-driven opportunists to fill any void left behind. They will post reviews and sell ads. But the vibrant reading community that attracted hard core readers has taken a significant blow, and that is something that can't simply be replaced by these opportunists.

I keep thinking back to how much Goodreads loves to crow about their part in making Fifty Shades of Grey so damn popular. What they are missing is it wasn't just them, it was the vibrant reading community that created the buzz that made others want to read what they are reading. That buzz is what authors want to 'buy', but they can't. The best they can do is nurture that community, instead they back slapped them hard, and in no uncertain terms let it slip that we either produce for the sponsors or get the hell out. OUCH.

Yes i think one of the core issues here is that we are seen as an asset in the eyes of Amazon. It is almost as if we are nothing more than another machine on their assembly line of books.

Reply to post #4 (show post):
You may already have seen these, but in the event you haven't, here's some further food for thought:

http://www.slideshare.net/GoodreadsPresentations/idpf-2013-goodreads
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2013/03/29/three-hidden-benefits-of-the-amazon-acquisition-of-goodreads/
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/amazon_buys_goodreads_were_all_just_data_now/

The Goodreads slide presentation in particular shows how directly GR activity affects Kindle sales -- which was the driving force behind the purchase.

These are great articles.

It's so interesting to hear that authors are afraid of speaking up against amazon. While the authors may not be afraid to write freely, they're certainly quiet when it comes to the people who sell it.

Wow. I have to check out those articles.

I think the Goodreads we joined and the Goodreads we believed in has fallen. The basic structure will survive with the constant influx of interested people who will join, do nothing, and fade away but what made the site great is gone.

So they won...but I think eventually it will be a pretty hollow victory. Won't do reviewers and people who loved and cared for the site much good though.

I think Goodreads may lose its rich culture by losing many of its avid users. But there is a chance that those people are eventaully replaced, seeing as there are just sooo many users on Goodreads.