Well written thoughts on the increasing trend of people rating books on Goodreads without reading them. I am currently reading The Black Witch to form my own opinions(imagine that). Make sure to read his review of the book as well.
Fair Warning: Unpopular Opinions Incoming!
I’ve been debating writing this post for quite some time now. I’ve titled it “Unpopular Opinions” for a reason. I’m fully expecting this to spark a bit of discussion and yes, disagreements, but given that we’re all civilized people with strong opinions that are all worthy of merit, I felt more and more compelled to share my thoughts.
I wanted to talk today about the state of Goodreads; in particular a disturbing trend I’ve been witnessing of people maliciously rating books before they’ve actually read them.
For the record, I also take issue with people rating upcoming books that they’re looking forward to 5 stars before the book has even been published, but that’s really not what I want to focus on here. Yes, that equally skews the ratings of any book, but I think it’s more pressing that we talk about the…
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The World's Common Tater 
Goodreads is supposed to be a place for sharing views about books that are informed by having read the damn things, not for rumor-based slander. That’s for Fox News. People who would trash a book because someone told them it had content that was racist, sexist, homophobic, etc., without knowing whether that was actually true and what the context of that content is (like people bashing Mark Twain as a racist because of some of the language in Huck Finn, a book that actually refutes racism eloquently and forcefully) are operating at the same mental level as medieval types burning others at the stake because they heard they were witches.
This is getting to be a depressingly familiar pattern in our culture in general. People leap to simplistic judgments about others, always negative, based on insufficient information insufficiently reflected upon, because it’s the current moment’s thing to do, and pile on.
Even when I really dislike someone and know they have a nasty history, I try to avoid automatically believing negative things I hear about them just because those things fit my preconceptions.
We really need to start working critical thinking skills and skepticism back into the curricula in our schools, lest we become even more of a neo-medieval society than we already are, one where being the subject of a negative rumor can lead to ostracism or being attacked by a torch-and-pitchfork-wielding mob. And re-introducing the Golden Rule wouldn’t hurt, either.
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Yep. There is the piling on and then the refusal to listen to any other viewpoint.
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Great post. People are very quick to look at the surface of a book without noticing what it’s about. It’s like saying you don’t like Brussels sprouts without having ever tried one. While the internet is a great way for people to share information, it is also a disastrous outlet to writing whatever you want with no basis of fact or knowledge. I always take things with a grain of sAlt . Sometimes I think the sport is to criticize things just for the ability to criticize.
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People seem to make a sport out of outrage these days
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And that’s dangerous when it’s based on hearsay, or when it’s based on nothing
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