Not all social networks are general ones like Facebook and MySpace. A number of them are specialist in nature.
Shelfari is one such social network, designed as a place where book lovers can meet, and review and discuss books.
Teenager Adrienne Blaser-discusses how she uses this book-oriented social network.
What is Shelfari?
Today the internet is used for many things. Before finding Shelfari I had no way of keeping track of what I was reading. Now I can not only do that, but I can also join groups, write reviews, participate in discussions, and make wish lists. When you find books that you especially like and want to get as a present or even buy later on you add it to your wish list.
The way I would use this is: Shelfari is linked with Amazon, making it helpful to find pricing, so if I'm going to buy a book from Amazon I can go to my wish list then find the Amazon price. It is also just to keep track of what I want. For Christmas I usually give my parents a list. This year Shelfari will help because then I have a list and I won't be a afraid of forgetting any book. Friends online could buy you a book, and they could have Amazon ship it to you.
A section of Adrienne's bookshelf
I first came across Shelfari from a friend at school last year. Since then I have added more than 200 books to my shelf.
On your shelf you have different sections, the biggest one being the �I�ve read� section. Others are �I Plan to Read� and �I�m Reading�. These sections are very helpful as you don�t have to add your books once you finish them and you can remember what books you are interested in reading. All these sections can be downloaded and printed out. Moving books from one section to another is just a click away.
Group work
On Shelfari you can join many groups -- fantasy, science fiction, etc. You can also join groups for a series or even a certain author. If you don�t find one you like you may even start your own group. There you will find members interested in the same thing as you. This is a very good reason to make boys want to read more. Boys can be interested in the same things as each other. For example, many that I know are fascinated with sports. Here on Shelfari you will definitely find books about sports. If you want another member to become your friend you can post a note on their profile or just click �request friendship�. I believe that making friends, either boys or girls on Shelfari is great or even better than meeting at each other�s houses. Although my friends might be on the other side of the world or in the same state I have connected with them through a shared interest of reading. I also learn about different people�s different way of thinking.
Recommended reading
Although many of my friends on Shelfari are interested in the same books as me, there are some who are not. These friends recommend the books they have read, telling me a little about it to encourage me to read it. Most of the time I need a little push to start reading a book that I would not normally. Because Shelfari is on the internet it should definitely encourage reading more. The internet today is being used more and more. Not only does Shelfari help you stay organized, it also allows you to find more books to read. For me if has definitely helped me at school because now I am more into reading. I have even found books that I would never have before.
For many books there are reviews. Most times these review are good. They give enough detail but don�t give anything away. They are even categorized, one for those readers who liked the book and for the others who did not. While reading others review�s you can also vote if the review was helpful or not. This would also be useful for teachers. Writing reviews would be good practice for their students, who would then learn if their own reviews were helpful to others.
Finding new reading matter
Some helpful things in Shelfari are that editions are displayed, with all the information including the ISBN. Another helpful way to find new books is to look at the �What�s Hot� page. It shows the top books for the day, week, and month. Also, on your shelf there is a picture of each book you have added.
What�s hot and what�s not
One not-so-good thing about Shelfari is that it is not exceptionally fast; it is only slightly slower than the other websites I go to. I believe it is mostly because so many people are visiting that site.
Shelfari seems to be a very safe environment. You can be any age to register and your personal information is kept safe. When you first sign up the best thing to do is go to �Edit My Settings�. Once there you may change who can view and comment on your profile. You can keep your name and email address a secret. You can also control who can send you messages and make comments. Just look in the privacy settings. But even for spam just use common sense and if you don't know this person, just delete it. After doing this, spam shouldn�t be a problem.
Conclusion
This is the first website that I have come across that is a network for organizing books and so far I haven�t had any problems. I hope that more people will take advantage of this website and share their views on the books of today.
You can find Shelfari at http://www.shelfari.com
Adrienne was 13 years old when she wrote this last year. She plays tennis, the violin and, of course loves to read. She one day hopes to learn many languages, hopefully one being Chinese. If you would like to share Adrienne�s Shelfari website with your students, please drop me an email, saying how you see yourself making use of it. I will pass on legitimate-looking requests to Adrienne.
Coming soon: an interview with Adrienne about how she uses technology. Keep an eye out for that.
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