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The StoryGraph (sometimes shortened to just "StoryGraph") is an in-development London-based, black-owned social cataloguing web platform for books online, serving as the main competitor and rival of Goodreads (an Amazon-owned social cataloguing platform). The StoryGraph received awareness after Book Riot covered the platform's assets, including more personalized recommendations for readers, customized ratings options (including half-star ratings), and its distinct non-affiliation with Amazon or Amazon subsidiaries.

Design

The StoryGraph was created by software engineer Nadia Odunayo in 2019, initially as a side-project for tracking books. Needing more of a hook to keep it going, Odunayo focused on the implement of systems on the platform for personalized book recommendations.[1][2][3]

In comparison to Goodreads

The StoryGraph is similar in many ways to Goodreads, being also a web platform designed for readers to keep track of the books they read, using metadata to build book profiles. Unlike Goodreads, The StoryGraph is more focused on the tracking aspect of book collecting, and lacks the same type of social homepage as Goodreads. The StoryGraph platform allows readers to log and rate their books, interact with friends on the site’s community page, and set reading challenges. The platform builds recommendations based on analyses of users’ reading habits. By scrolling over the "stats" tab on their profile page, readers get an evaluation of their online library broken down by mood, pace, length, genre, rating, etc. This function can be upgraded, for a monthly fee, to provide more advanced statistics. Unlike Goodreads, The StoryGraph offers the option to give books half or quarter star ratings. The StoryGraph imports metadata much like Goodreads does, but unlike Goodreads, is more receptive to removing metadata for pirated and plagiarized materials, and for non-book items.[4] The StoryGraph has a "DNF" (did not finish) function for book reviewers, which Goodreads lacks, allowing users to mark books they did not complete as such.[5][6]

Reception

The StoryGraph is a functional but fairly new platform, and has received mixed opinions from critics and users. Chris M. Arnone of Book Riot commended The StoryGraph for not being affiliated with Amazon and for distancing itself from Amazon products, but criticized the platform for its lack of a strong social community, stating, "this is the most glaring place where The StoryGraph falls behind Goodreads. The community on Goodreads is huge, with multiple groups and social media connections to automatically add people you know in other spaces. The StoryGraph just doesn’t have any of that. There are no API tie-ins to other social media platforms at this time. This not only means you can’t import friends from Facebook or Twitter, but you can’t directly post from The StoryGraph to those platforms. While this might be something they’re working on, this lack of interaction hurt my review of The StoryGraph. The StoryGraph does provide the ability to search for similar users based on your reading preferences. That’s as far as the community goes right now."[7] Mara Franzen, another writer for Book Riot, took a different view than her colleague, arguing, "I have been a die-hard Goodreads fan since 2016, but after spending time with Storygraph, I think I might make the switch. It’s just so much more user-friendly, and I was recommended so many books that I’m actually interested in. I loved being able to see my reading data and was even surprised by it a bit. Turns out I like mystery and suspense more than I thought, especially if it overlaps with fantasy and science fiction."[8]

Social impact

The StoryGraph is viewed by some critics and users as a tool they can use to boycott Amazon, which owns Goodreads and numerous other book subsidiaries. Alyssa Shotwell, a journalist writing for The Mary Sue, revealed that she switched from Goodreads to The StoryGraph for her book cataloguing after hearing of Amazon's alleged corrupt business practices, stating, "Amazon not only started as a bookseller, but owns several sections of the book ecosystem outside of the main site. In addition to Goodreads, Amazon owns the Book Depository, AbeBooks, ComiXology, BookSurge, Shelfari, Brilliance Audio, and more. There is also, of course, Audible, Kindle, and Amazon’s other in-house services. This discovery about Goodreads [being owned by Amazon] came in 2018, when the stories about Amazon workers having to pee in bottles began to surface, and I finally cancelled my Prime subscription. The price and two-day delivery came in clutch as an undergrad, but I started to understand the human cost of that convenience. Despite objections with the parent company and scaling back my usage ten-fold, I continued to log into Goodreads. I convinced myself that a little bit of reading data would be worth using the site. It’s not like I was going to click on any “buy” buttons. Enter The StoryGraph. When I began watching BookTube in summer 2020, Seji (a.k.a. "The Artisan Geek") brought to my attention a fast growing, independent, and ad-free book site called The StoryGraph. While it was still in development at the time she made this, there is still a stark difference in the layout and UI between Goodreads and The Storygraph."[9] Matt Wille of Input Mag agreed, calling The StoryGraph "a breath of fresh, Bezos-free air" and saying that Goodreads had gone "stagnant" after years of no development.[10] Carina Pereira, despite arguing that she still liked Goodreads, noted that The StoryGraph "has the appeal of not being owned by Amazon".[11]

Amazon, for its part, as well as Goodreads, have not publicly disclosed any corporate statement or opinion on The StoryGraph. Tom Critchlow, a data consultant based in the United Kingdom, argued that Amazon's ownership of Goodreads would continue to hinder platforms like The StoryGraph, saying, "Amazon has showed no mercy when dealing with competitors before. If you were to compete, you would need significant scale. Again, you’d be dealing with Amazon directly. It sees no real threat, so it isn’t about to invest behind any major new development."[12]

Nadia Odunayo, the creator and owner of The StoryGraph, is also a woman of color in a STEM career, which has led to further support, as Goodreads and Amazon are both male-centric American businesses. Tatiana Stantonian, an engineer writing for FT Globetrotter, said "my top [COVID-19] lockdown discovery is The Storygraph, an independent, London-based, black-owned business that makes amazingly accurate book recommendations. The platform was founded by Nadia Odunayo, and its goal is to help people find the perfect book to read based on their mood, favourite topics or genres."[13] Alyssa Shotwell of The Mary Sue agreed, noting that Odunayo was an independent black woman from London who had designed the platform with successful results.[14]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Wille, Matt. "Amazon's Goodreads is ancient and terrible. Now there's an alternative". www.inputmag.com. Input Mag. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  2. ^ Willow, Francesca. "Amazon Owns Goodreads, The StoryGraph Is The Black-Owned, Ethical Alternative You've Been Looking For". ethicalunicorn.com. Ethical Unicorn. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  3. ^ Herman, Lily. "Meet The Book-Obsessed Entrepreneur Challenging Goodreads' Reign". www.bustle.com. Bustle.
  4. ^ Koop, Lauren. "Join The Migration of Readers Moving From Goodreads to StoryGraph". studybreaks.com. StudyBreaks. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  5. ^ Tolcheva, Simona. "Goodreads vs. StoryGraph: Which Is the Best Book Platform?". www.makeuseof.com. Make Use Of. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  6. ^ Fathers, Libby Rudd. "Why we should all use storygraph- Libby Rudd Fathers". www.thisislocallondon.co.uk. This Is Local London. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  7. ^ Arnone, Chris M. "The StoryGraph Review: Is It Worth Replacing Goodreads?". bookriot.com. Book Riot. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  8. ^ Franzen, Mara. "Is StoryGraph a Good Alternative to GoodReads?". bookriot.com. Book Riot. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  9. ^ Shotwell, Alyssa. "Stop Using Goodreads and Try This Non-Amazon Alternative Instead". www.themarysue.com. The Mary Sue. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  10. ^ Wille, Matt. "Amazon's Goodreads is ancient and terrible. Now there's an alternative". www.inputmag.com. Input Mag. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  11. ^ Pereira, Carina. "Why I Deleted My Goodreads TBR (And Why You Probably Should, Too)". bookriot.com. The Book Riot. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  12. ^ Manavis, Sarah. "Why Goodreads is bad for books". www.newstatesman.com. The New Statesman. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  13. ^ Stantonian, Tatiana. "'Glimmers of good living': the FT's London lockdown discoveries". www.ft.com. FT Globetrotter. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  14. ^ Shotwell, Alyssa. "Stop Using Goodreads and Try This Non-Amazon Alternative Instead". www.themarysue.com. The Mary Sue. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_StoryGraph&oldid=1103250867

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