Bookwyrm: The not-so-new "new" kid on the book reading block

 Last year I joined Storygraph. I had been considering it even before Amazon gave me the Mafia horse's head in bed treatment and I eventually deleted my Amazon account, leaving me with nothing but Goodreads, solely owned by Amazon.

I had seen Storygraph mentioned by one of my Goodreads friends shortly before this denouement, which gave me the push to join it.

And now, on his blog, friend Brett Welch mentions he has joined Bookwyrm as well. I asked him at that moment what he liked about it, then when I went to its website I already had the answer.

It's "decentralized," a la Mastodon. In fact, it touts that, and its connection to Mastodon. (And, that's Brett's primary reason for joining, it seems)

Well, with Smelling Musky making Mastodon (and other sites, like Post/News) more interesting (and I may join Post/News), I already know something about Mastodon. Per the late Leo Lincourt, a "node" friend who connected me and Brett, I joined Mastodon when it first launched. I found the decentralization "clunky" then and also, per the different moderation standards of different servers, didn't think to check — and didn't really realize it was something good to check — which server I joined. I posted in depth some Mastodon yea/nay thoughts last month.

Given that my reading, in the nonfiction world, ranges from biblical criticism and occasional pop-ish philosophy, through serious "pop" science (Ed Young, Frans de Waal), through serious history (especially WWI and the US Civil War) to biography, but then on to modern culture and cultural sociology, but then on to a variety of sports books? Stops in Anasazi studies and other things are also in the mix.

I don't want a "federated" books site. Sounds like too much hassle. Besides, I haven't yet fully explored all I can do with Storygraph. And, Storygraph offers enough options itself, as well as not being owned by Yellow Satan, that I really don't have need for a third site. (See my "Storygraph vs Goodreads" post.) Also, since Bookwyrm touts "coding," it's more wonky than I need. (Storygraph has a feedback page that is more friendly than that of Goodreads, and I've used it.)

As for Bookwyrm touting its "integration" with Mastodon? I'd rather post a link to a review than integrate two different social media accounts.

Also, Bookwyrm has one big shortcoming, from what I can tell, and that is Goodreads' biggest shortcoming outside being owned by Amazon. From what I can tell without having joined, it does NOT offer fractional star reviews. A book with 21 reviews and no fractional-star reviews? Yeah, they were all imported, but I see noting, including the screengrab on Bookwyrm's front page, that would indicate those reviews can be tweaked into fractional stars or that fresh reviews can be done with fractional stars. Also, Bookwyrm, per its "about" page and "Mouse" history as admin, is more than 2 years old and is now slipstreaming in the new popularity of Mastodon and other "federated" social media. Storygraph is newer, offers other new things, and while not geeky, part of its pitch is in supporting non-Amazon, preferably non-chain, and especially minority-owned bricks and mortar bookstores.

There would also appear to be some "PR" with Bookwyrm that's an issue. Note its "docs" page and these comments. 

Since the project is still in its early stages, the features are growing every day, and there is plenty of room for suggestions and ideas.

Well, that's undercut you not being in quite such early stages. And, if you're getting a rush of new joiners, aren't they working on tweaks? (To be fair, StoryGraph is a few months to a year older.)

There's also going to be the issue that as more and more people with their own servers create more and more different "instances," will moderation standards differ enough that different instances block each other, as was the case with journalists on Mastodon?

Also, it seems to be "bare bones" on the features. Much as I scoffed at "content warnings" on Storygraph, I almost used them with one recent review. I do use the other "buttons," of, if a book is "informative," or "relaxing" or whatever.

That all said, Brett may have just inspired me enough to make part of my 2023 reading challenge learning more about what I can do on Storygraph.

Update: As I note above, StoryGraph has a pretty responsive Twitter account, plus a "roadmap" page where people can suggest new ideas. And, while it's bare bones, you can buy a subscription model for $4.99 a month I don't know that Bookwyrm even has a Twitter. 

For more? Wiki's page on StoryGraph. Note that there is NOT a  Wiki page for Bookwyrm.