Hi everyone, I wanted to respond to the big discussion around the new user experience in the forums and forum/list etiquette. First of all, I can speak for everyone in the PB community when I say we’re all so excited to have new readers here; the more lively Pagebound is, the more fun it is to be here. Pagebound is different from most social media sites; we’re focused on discussion and creating meaningful dialogue (leading to meaningful connections) which also means we operate a little differently than what you’re likely used to. Since the app’s launch we’ve had thousands of new users and Lucy and I are quickly realizing we have a lot of work to do to make new users feel welcome and provide the tools they need to interact on the site, while preserving the thoughtful and warm community that’s been fostered here.

Here’s our plan: Our Top Contributors are already working on an “etiquette” guide; Lucy and I will work with them to get this finalized and will pin it to the top of Pagebound Club. Lucy and I will work on the FAQ to make it more detailed and robust; we will also revisit the Posting Guide and see if we need to make tweaks there. We recently launched the “PageboundBot” which is an anonymous moderator account run by humans. PageboundBot may archive and leave a comment on your list or post if it doesn’t follow the guidelines set in the Posting Guide. This is intended to be purely a gentle reminder moment and not a slap on the wrist. Archiving ensures our forums remain high quality and relevant.

For those totally new here, here’s some context that might guide your posting: When you post in a book forum, your post lives there forever for future readers. It is also sent to the feeds of everyone with that book in their library. Our vision for book forums is a place to discuss books as you’re reading them, so you can see what others thought at the same place as you. We value discussion over memes and low effort “throwaway” posts (that does not mean we don’t value humor; I’ve genuinely laughed my ass off at some of your posts and memes, we love our comedians). It’s a tricky balance between fun and substance, but we find most of our users strike it well.

In the meantime while we work on the action items above, here are some quick and dirty guidelines. Historically, we’ve been lax with guidelines since we wanted to simply provide the tools for connection/discussion and see how the community used them. We’ve clearly outgrown that, so apologies if this list is still too vague, but this is truthfully the guidelines we have in place as of right now and we will work on getting them more formalized and less vague.

We are a site to talk about books, so your posts should be book related. Occasionally you will see a non-book related post, but since that doesn’t happen often, we let it slide (if this gets abused, we will be more strict about it). We do not want to become Fable or Tome where you see a mix of Instagram/personal blog type content alongside book content; if that’s what you’re looking for, the other book socials will be a better fit for you.

Forums are for timeless discussion. Good things to think about: Does this post spark discussion? Will someone else stumbling on this who doesn’t know me be interested? Personal updates do not belong in the book forum (posts like: “Read on the train today”, “Listening to the audiobook” etc). You can do this by commenting on your activity update in your feed. A no-context reaction post (like an emoji, or “WOW!“) will get archived; we definitely want you to post reactions, but without context its impossible to know what you’re reacting to (imagine you read a book 3 months ago and you see Thoughts from page 288: “WOW” - you’d have no idea what they’re talking about).

In general it is good practice to check the forums before posting. This applies to both Book forums, Quest forums, and the Pagebound Club. Repetitive posts compromise the quality of the forums and become a moderation headache (both in volume and in the dilemma of not wanting to punish someone for posting, but also wanting to preserve forum quality). In the book forum, you’re welcome to post a “repeat” if you have a different take than an existing post; but you also may want to consider jumping in on existing discussions.

Regarding Pagebound Club: we will revamp the club so its less overwhelming (example: having a separate place for book recommendations and PB-specific product questions) but in general, PB club posts should not be about a specific book or series. Those posts belong in the book forums. It’s worthwhile to scroll a bit or use the searchbar to see if your post is a repeat. Keep in mind: EVERY user on Pagebound will see your post. Ask yourself: is this something I want to blast to tens of thousands of people? Your post might be better in a Quest forum (example: looking for scifi recs - check out a scifi quest forum). PB club ideally is not a customer service platform; if you have a very specific question, see a bug, or need help with your account, submit a form or email Lucy and I directly at team@pagebound.co.

Lists: Lists are intended for the community; they are our way of providing human recommendations and helping you discover new reads that aren’t driven by an algorithm. If a list is mainly for yourself (“My Fall TBR”, “My Favorite books”) it should be a shelf instead. The best lists are specific and unique; “Good Thrillers” vs “Horror featuring Southern Gothic Mansions”. While making lists for series and authors is not explicitly “wrong”, it also doesn’t provide much value (series lists could be useful since we don’t have series data right now, but we often see repeats of these; we don't need 10 zodiac academy lists for example).

FIN

I hope this was more helpful than overwhelming; like I said, we’ll work on distilling this into a digestible and easy to reference format! And final note: many users who have been around for a while may comment on a post (especially in PB club) directing you to an existing post; this is not a slap on the wrist, but rather a part of the culture here as often other posts have more context, or Lucy and I have responded in depth to a platform question somewhere else.

Feel free to leave your thoughts below, and I'm especially curious to hear from new users what sort of guidance would be helpful as you learn your way around!

I thought it'd be fun to share our current reads or next reads! I'm currently paused but kind of still reading The Obelisk Gate by N.K Jemisin, The Goldfinch by Donna Tart, and A Very Easy Death by Simone de Beauvoir. I usually like to read one book at a time, but Libby decided to dump all my holds on me at once lol.

Can I just say a huge thank you to the PB team - I'm loving the community and entire reading-centred vibe of Pagebound! But - I would love to know everyone's unexpected loves, those things that are surprisingly cool/helpful/nice to have that you maybe just stumbled into?

E.g. I'm using Shelves to organise the books I have at home into categories (finally) and for every book I can't find straight away, the process to import is so freaking easy? I don't know why but I was not expecting that with something so new?? This alone is round of applause-worthy, honestly.

I'm currently writing my Master's Thesis while also working two jobs and I feel like I don't read anymore. It's very frustrating to me, especially since I found pagebound and just want to participate in all the fun but I just cannot find time, and if I can, I'm just too tired to read.

Is anyone else struggling like this or has had these periods of time? Does it ever get better? I don't want to lose interest in reading but it feels like I'm forgetting about it more and more.

Just a reminder to buy your books from indie bookstores and to use your local library to the maximum.

If you'll allow me, I'll share my favourite bookstores located in Montreal, QC & I encourage you to share yours from home (I love visiting indie bookstores when I travel) :

× Maktaba Bookshop × Joie de Livres Bookstore × Librairie St-Henri Books

Also, in Québec, we have an "holiday" every August 12th where we are encouraged to buy a Quebecer books. Do you any similar Day in your country?

"My asshole is doing as much to keep me alive as my brain."

I-- 😭😭 This took me so off guard lmao

I loved Project Hail Mary and I'm hoping this goes down the same way. Tell me I won't be disappointed?

I have an issue with rating books. Because i can read a book and know logically that it’s a work of art. I can appreciate the value of literature and I can tell when something is amazing.

However, I am a romantasy slutty smutty kinda girl. So how am I out here rating intellectual pieces of literary genius 3 stars but my reverse harem Vampire smut 5 stars just because it made me feel giddy?

Does anybody know what i’m talking about??? Are we basing it off vibes alone? what’s everyone doing? i need help.