Goodreads makes little effort to deal with a practice known as review-bombing, in which a book is flooded with negative reviews, often from fake accounts.
Goodreads, the largest online platform for book lovers, currently has 90 million users. Among them, there are thousands of fake accounts.
Every registered user on Goodreads can rate books and leave reviews. And it’s where the problem begins.
Critics argue that the Goodreads’ lack of user verification allows for review-bombing, where negative reviews are posted from fake accounts to manipulate a book’s rating. This can devastate the prospects of unknown or debut authors.
Jim Zarroli has written for NPR a story about an aspiring author Cait Corrain. She admitted to creating fake Goodreads accounts to boost her own book’s ratings and disparage the works of other authors.
Cait Corrain’s downfall was exposed after internet users revealed a Google document detailing the fake accounts. She initially blamed a friend but later confessed to the scheme, attributing her actions to a mental breakdown.
Goodreads has removed the fake reviews and is taking steps to improve its moderation process, but critics say these measures may not be enough to prevent further abuse.
Del Rey Books, Cait Corrain’s publisher, as well as her literary agent have both severed ties with her.
A few days ago, Corrain published a detailed explanation on her Instagram profile.
💬 In late November, 2023, I started a new medication, and on December 2nd, 2023, I suffered a complete psychological breakdown. During this time, I created roughly 6 profiles on Goodreads, and, along with 2 profiles I made during a similar bur shorter breakdown in 2022, I boosted the rating of my book, bombed the ratings of several fellow debut authors, and left reviews that ranged from kind of mean to downright abusive.
Authors, have your books received a series of negative reviews and low ratings on Goodreads in a short period of time? You may be a victim of review-bombing. You can report suspicious account activity – you’ll find more details in this Goodreads help article.
Via: Goodreads has a “review bombing” problem — and wants its users to help solve it – NPR