look I don’t use any of the book tracking sites/apps and I’ve heard some are better than others for various reasons but— disability isn’t just some trope you should be anti-recommending books based on?? - ThreadSky

schwartzwords.bsky.social • 53 days ago

look I don’t use any of the book tracking sites/apps and I’ve heard some are better than others for various reasons but—

disability isn’t just some trope you should be anti-recommending books based on??

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maerossiauthor.bsky.social•53 days ago

This is from the Story Graph?! I just saw that Fable had to stop their use of AI after it was trash talking readers for seeking out Black authors, among other things. Everything is GenAI slip rn.

maerossiauthor.bsky.social•53 days ago

*slop

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

yup and everyone was saying to jump to this app but they’re proudly displaying this as an example of their ai “snapshot”?

maerossiauthor.bsky.social•53 days ago

Ooh thanks for explaining. That is beyond weird. It's bad enough for them to use AI that's saying offensive things without human oversight.

maerossiauthor.bsky.social•53 days ago

I didn't jump to the Story Graph because I never thought it seemed well-designed, but I made a little Excel sheet to track reading goals this year and I'm v happy with it so far. I'll just have to shout loud and proud about the books I really love this year in lieu of using book review sites.

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

That’s basically what I’m doing this year, trying to track on paper and do a better job posting (I tend to shout out books person to person more than anything but need to fling posts out there too!)

haridraws.bsky.social•53 days ago

god is this real?? so depressing

haridraws.bsky.social•53 days ago

Also… even apart from the main terrible point, I also think the principle of suggesting someone who loves dragon rider books only read more dragon rider books is… not good

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yeah I guess it’s for giving mood readers a quick view of a book, but it could be pretty limiting

whirloglyphics.bsky.social•53 days ago

I beg your finest pardon?

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

🙃🙃🙃

whirloglyphics.bsky.social•53 days ago

I hate it here 🤣 MOM PICK ME UP I'M SCARED

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

idc if it’s ai idc if you’re giving in to user requests for “more negativity” you do not warn readers away from books based on marginalized identities, and if you do your product is nothing I want to support

*I do care it’s ai and want it out of everything but I don’t care about it as an excuse

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

thank you to @allys-shelf.bsky.social for flagging this on threads as well as asking would this feature also warn readers off books based on BIPOC/LGBTQAI+ content? because yikes

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

I really try to keep it positive online, shout out things I love more than jump on things I don’t, but here’s the thing— this *hurts*

we already know some readers indeed may not be interested in our books because of the disabled MCs. I’ve heard as much from agents/editors/buyers/readers for years

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

and now you’re stacking the deck against us even more. because given a fair chance many people WILL love these books even if they’ve never been super “into” disabled rep—

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

and a big purpose for me as a writer is hoping my books will reach both autistic readers AND those who can learn about the experience and maybe help make the world a little more accommodating to them

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

and yes this product is for readers, to help them decide what to read in the moment, and should prioritize them, but I don’t think that needs to include what boils down to bigotry

billie.bookstoreromanceday.org•53 days ago

Doubly disappointing coming from an app founded and run by a Black woman.

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

Like I keep wondering if this ai feature is also warning readers away from books with BIPOC rep the same way? It’s so irresponsible.

billie.bookstoreromanceday.org•53 days ago

Or LGBT+ characters or even just reading outside one's comfort zone.

deetoriadee.bsky.social•53 days ago

AI in this respect is just a more sophisticated algorithm which is something someone needs to program in to begin with. What this tells me is that the programmers have programmed the AI to avoid recs that include marginalized ppl unless the reader has already shown an interest in that.

deetoriadee.bsky.social•53 days ago

And that is incredibly problematic. If I like fantasy stories & haven't come across a rec that includes a character w a disability specifically mentioned, for ex, I will never get a rec for it. And that is further removing marginalized from visibility & is absolutely being done on purpose.

allys-shelf.bsky.social•53 days ago

Hoping Storygraph makes changes or even acknowledges this- they’ve been transparent and have seen ready to listen before which is giving me hope. But damn if I’m not going to be loud about it until they say something

kimberlybea.bsky.social•53 days ago

Ugh! I had joined Storygraph as a Goodreads alternative and when the mess with Fable went down I thought “At least there’s still Storygraph!”
I guess now it’s “at least there’s still my physical tracker!”

shydogs.bsky.social•53 days ago

Oh no, that’s icky. I’d been considering using that app but if this is how they operate, maybe not so much. 😬

schwartzwords.bsky.social•53 days ago

I’ve given up and am doing a paper journal tracker, but for folks looking for recs it’s getting rough out there

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