Here’s the denument of this affair, which I shall follow-up with my evidence that Shelfari also “astroturfed.”

Last week, one of our competitors, Shelfari, received a sound and very well-deserved drubbing for their deceptive invite-spamming. (Best title: Where’s my shelefant gun?)

Although a far more popular blog, Gagetopia, was the leader of the attack, we are proud to have supplied much of the ammo–more than fifty angry and embarrassed blog posts from people who learned that Shelfari had sent hundreds or thousands of emails in their name. The emails went out to anyone they had ever emailed, been emailed by or appeared alongside in a CC or on a listserv.

To repeat, we are NOT against competition, just against one site’s underhanded tactics. We often praise our competition, from BookJetty to GoodReads, Babelio to Reliwa (and some 40 others). Post about LibraryThing on some sites and you’ll find the message gone the next day. We don’t work like that. In fact, in one thread we even posted a long list of competitors (now outdated) and asked users to sign up for as many as they could, figure out what they liked, and come back with suggestions for improvements.

Anyway, after the drugging the site “relented,” and changed the sign-up process somewhat. The CEO explained that they never had any intention to deceive and that it was a side effect of growth.

I’m unmoved. As Gadgetopia put it, albeit before the final post:

“Just do us all a favor and admit it — admit that you were over-zealous and getting new members was more important to you than the personal pain of your current members. You trampled all over them to make your investors happy with your growth numbers.

“Come on, Josh, admit what you did. At least be that much of a man about it. Is there anything below the PR facade? Or are you unable to turn that off and just level with us?”

Then again, the newest post does say they “deeply apologize to all of our users who mistakenly emailed unwanted contacts.” It’s not everything, but it’s certainly something.

The new method is certainly a lot better, but it’s still icky in my book. It’s automatic on sign-up, and at every turn the invasive option is in the center of the screen, with a big blue-green “continue” button. The only way “out,” other than doing as the site demands, is to click the words “Skip making friends for now,” which is small, grey, out-of-the-way, and not underlined. It stands alongside other text of the same size, color and non-underlinedness, except that text isn’t a link. As one blogger put it:

“And voila, if … [you’d move] your mouse over each line, you’d find that one of these two pieces of text is actually a link! How sneaky is that!”

And they still pre-select every contact, something very few people want.

At LibraryThing our invites are unforced and voluntary. You don’t go through the page automatically. The interface is clear. And we not only don’t preselect all your contacts, we even removed the “select all” link. Want to send it to a thousand friends? Better warm up your clicking finger…

*I claim hundreds because I found 51 blog posts as of last week, many of which have comments by other non-bloggers. This week produced another dozen or so, and one can safely assume that most people do not have blogs.

LibraryThing’s success—we recently hit three-hundred thousand members and twenty million books—has spawned competitors, more than forty at last count. We respect them. Some of the best include BookJetty (gorgeous), Anobii (simple and big in China), Socialogue (does CDs) and GoodReads (friendly and not small; they just hit 5 million books). We think we do it better—for example taking from more than 75 soures other than Amazon–but we also know we aren’t perfect. To stay on top we have to work hard, and to be true to ourselves—loving books and being more open and collaborative than anyone else.

We respect our competitors with one exception: the site “Shelfari.com.” We have always spoken our mind, so here’s a piece of it: Shelfari has gained traction by engaging in unethical practices, including astroturfing (posting on blogs pretending to be users, not employees*) and putting out press releases about how they invented the idea. But the worst has been their spamming campaign.

These are strong accusations, but provable. This post lays out fifty-one posts that show they are, in the words of the well-known blog Gawker, “basically social networking rapists.”

Yesterday the popular Gadgetopia went on the attack, after Shelfari sent out thousands of invites in one author’s name. After getting the usual cut-and-paste non-apology, he pressed the point. I’d had my fill too, so I posted a comment with some of the evidence. Things built from there. And to my delight, Otis, the Goodreads guy, joined me, adding:

“I have two points in writing this: number one is to encourage people to keep blogging about Shelfari’s trickyness as long as they keep doing it. So far, people are having no problems doing that. However the saying ‘all press is good press’ is mostly true, so my second point is to encourage people to also mention that there are a number of other sites for book lovers that are well designed: notably, Goodreads and LibraryThing.”

The Spamming Campaign

Jesse Wegman of the New York Observer wrote the best accounts so far. Shelfari spammed “every single person with whom I have exchanged an e-mail in the past three years, in addition to every single person who has ever been on the same cc list as I have, regardless of whether we have ever met, in addition to every single listserv I have ever joined and every single Web site from which I have ever ordered anything.”

The method is simple. When you sign up for Shelfari you are dumped into a screen that offers to send out check-out-my-books invitations to friends. The user interface is confusing and deceptive, and what seems like an attempt to continue into the site really sends out hundreds or thousands of letters to everyone you’ve ever known by email. Reminder-letters follow. Skipping this step requires clicking out-of-the-way, gray non-underlined text.

Bloggers want to hide under their desks, ponder “moving to Tahiti” and beg God to “make [me] a bird so I may fly far far away.” They spit anger and frustration. The blog posts started months ago, and Shelfari has done nothing because a small percentage of recipients end up signing up, and this has driven their growth. They know perfectly well what they’re doing.

Below are 51 posts of bloggers and journalists livid or shame-faced at what Shelfari did to them.

Silly Shelfari Spam Shit
http://prosesanonymitus.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/silly-shelfari-spam-shit/

Startling Banals: Shelfari – horrible!!! Stay away from it!
http://quitsmoke.blogspot.com/2007/10/shelfari-horrible-stay-away-from-it.html

Tess Harrison: An Apology…Please Don’t Hate Me!
http://tshjourney.blogspot.com/2007/07/apologyplease-dont-hate-me.html

Apologizing to my network for Shelfari Spam
http://www.fullcirc.com/weblog/2007/10/apologizing-to-my-network-for-shelfari.htm

Gadgetopia: Shelfari Has Pissed Me Off
http://gadgetopia.com/post/6136#CommentID_435065

Mohtashims IT Tazee: Avoid #@$#! Shelfari like the plague!
http://www.ittazee.com/2007/10/21/avoid-shelfari-like-the-plague/

“I dont like to use any service that breaches my trust in the first 5 minutes…”

nm_eviled: Freaking Shelfari
http://nm-eviled.livejournal.com/111647.html

“I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but I’m about ready to commission a voodoo doll directed at the people who run Shelfari”

Shelfari SUCKS, the evil spamming bastiches
http://table4five.net/?s=shelfari

“If you get an invitation to Shelfari, from me or anyone, DELETE IT immediately. … It’s a big, huge, scam. Torches and pitchforks, anyone?”

The Journey: Got your invitation?
http://www.rodneyolsen.net/2007/11/got-your-invitation.html

“After Shelfari sent out another round of emails, which I specifically asked them not to, and failed to respond to the email I sent them, I have deleted my account. I refuse to deal with a company that has no regard for its users.”

Insights into Air and shadow: PSA and Apologies….
http://rbowspryte.livejournal.com/327691.html

“It is evil, evil, evil. It should die, die die!”

InsideView of Shelfari
http://www.insideview.ie/irisheyes/2007/10/insideview-of-s.html

“One hour after I pressed the button, Shelfari invited two dead people, one prisoner (he should probably read books but his warden is reading his mail), the CNN news desk, four European editors–and potentially a boatload of others who I hope I never meet.”

ShelfSpam! A Story of Books, Trickery & Embarrassment
http://bittersweetblue.blogspot.com/2007/11/shelfspam-story-of-books-trickery.html

Prateek Dayal: Why Shelfari.com sucks so much!
http://prateekdayal.net/blog/?p=14

[rough draft]: O, fie upon thee, Shelfari
http://cubswn.blogspot.com/2007/10/o-fie-upon-thee-shelfari.html

Scarlet Letters from the Literary Underworld: I am spam!
http://literaryunderworld.blogspo
t.com/2007/11/i-am-spam.html

Sending Me Spam Makes Us Friends, Right?
http://www.louisgray.com/live/2007/11/sending-me-spam-makes-us-friends-right.html

What do Squid Read?
http://squid-knits.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-do-squid-read.html

“After it sent out a second email today, I dove right back under the rock of humiliation, sank into the moat of despair and basically thought about changing my name and moving to Tahiti.”

In Rare Form: Myrt’s Blurts. Embarrassing Moments: The Catalog
http://inrareform.wordpress.com/2007/09/13/myrt’s-blurts-embarrassing-moments-the-catalog/

“Shelfari sent a bloomin’ email to every person I have ever emailed. Ex-boyfriends, people I hoped would never contact me again, coworkers, my vice-president, my CFO, my old boss, potential employers, my bishop, the entire Sunday school and relief society. EVERYONE. All now invited by spam to join my on-line book club. “

Dogster/Catster: Auto-Spamming of Contacts Has to Stop
http://blog.dogster.com/2007/09/07/auto-spamming-of-contacts-has-to-stop/

“[A] coworker had a ‘sitedown’ email contact which redirects to our pagers which made us think there was a site issue at midnight only to read some slimy Shelfari marketing blather”

Class 1 Spam Alert – Shelfari
http://rvbhute.org/2007/09/02/class-1-spam-alert-shelfari/#comment-293

“Have fun creating new passwords for your GMail, Yahoo and other accounts.”

V. Raghunathan warns us about Shelfari’s shenanigans
http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com/2007/11/shelfari-shenanigans.html

“This is evil. Pure evil.”

knitgrrl: Mea culpa — actually, no: Shelfari culpa
http://www.knitgrrl.com/?p=517

Comment: “All my personal and business contacts (including a couple CEOs) just got the invite.”

Shelfari
http://geekgirlie.livejournal.com/17413.html

“Please don’t sign up for Shelfari since they try to gain members through spam!”

Caught in Shelfari’s Sticky Web: No More Friends, Please! (Jesse Wegman, New York Observer)
http://www.observer.com/2007/caught-shelfari-s-sticky-web-no-more-friends-please

“Rather than reply individually to the hundreds of e-mails I have received, and continue to receive, since I signed up—a process during which I accidentally failed to uncheck the approximately 1,500 names in my Gmail address book that Shelfari had helpfully pre-checked for me, thereby inviting to join Shelfari, under my name (and ostensibly from my e-mail account), every single person with whom I have exchanged an e-mail in the past three years, in addition to every single person who has ever been on the same cc list as I have, regardless of whether we have ever met, in addition to every single listserv I have ever joined and every single Web site from which I have ever ordered anything (Amazon, Circuit City, and Law Students Against the Death Penalty have all, sadly, declined my invitation)—I thought I would write to you all here instead.”

PlanetMike.com: Shelfari.com Spam
http://www.planetmike.com/journal/2007/10/23/shelfaricom-spam/

Dear Author: Suffering Shelfari Spam? Opt Out
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/07/23/suffering-shelfari-spam-opt-out/

Brianna’s Mommy: Freaking Shelfari
http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog/?p=1013

This Is My Truth: Major Ranting
http://sanjukta.wordpress.com/2007/09/07/major-ranting/

Galleycat: Do We Like The Same Books? Go Away!
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/web_tech do_we_like_the_same_books_go_away_69683.asp?c=rss

Dogs Steal Yarn, Apparently: I am a spammer, apparently.
http://dogsstealyarn.com/archives/000698.html

“And so then I got the bright idea to email an apology for the spam to my entire address book and Gmail decided that I’m a spammer and shut me down for 24 hours. But I only got to send that email to the first 500 people in my 837 contact address book. So I’m shut out of sending email AND I’ve now spammed people twice in a one-hour period.”

Beth’s Blog: Don’t Register for Shelfari: It Spams Your Address Book
http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2007/10/dont-register-f.html

“So, don’t install Shelfari or you will be apologizing to your friends.”

PerthNorg: Got Your Shelfari Invite Yet?
http://perth.norg.com.au/2007/11/01/got-your-shelfari-invite-yet/

Will Porter: OOC – to anyone who got a Shelfari invitation from mun
http://will-porter.livejournal.com/166475.html

“I wish I’d never even heard of Shelfari. I think I’m going to delete my entire fucking account.”

Autumn Crumbs
http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/node/3209

“At any rate, if you got one of these, and if you decide to join, please read that article before you start inviting folks to join you. A very poorly designed website.”

“In Spamalot: The Shelfari Chronicles” by Bethanne Patrick, Publisher’s Weekly
http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/670000267/post/1170016317.html?nid=3339

Gawker: The Internet Sucks
http://gawker.com/news/the-internet-sucks/-314436.php

“Finally someone takes on the great evil of our time: SHELFARI, the stupid book-centered stupidly-named social networking site that auto-sends an invite to everyone in your address book when you’re dingbat enough to sign up. I hate them so much and I scream a little inside every time one of these damned “DO WE LIKE THE SAME BOOKS?” emails arrives. They are basically social networking rapists.”

Sniff What I’m Steppin’ In: help
http://sniffwhatistepin.com/2007/10/15/help/

“Dear God, make [me] a bird so I may fly far far away. I just accidentally sent a Shelfari
invite to my entire Gmail address book, which includes business folks, like, oh, my HR rep at the 7,000-person organization for which I now work. Help.”

SENSE N NONSENSE: Shelfari spam
http://dushti.blogspot.com/2007/10/shelfari-spam.html

With great reply from Shelfari: “We have actually evaluated numerous designs for this process and have chosen one that we felt was extremely clear explaining the process and what is happening.”

Blog comment: “That email went out to ex-boyfriends from ten years ago, their parents, high profile business professionals that I sent my resume to five years ago”

Deb on the Web: So Sorry!!
http://debaccuardi.typepad.com/deb_on_the_web/2007/10/so-sorry.html

jessie’s lament, and then some: shelfari fiasco
http://dyezebel.blogspot.com/2007/10/shelfari-fiasco.html

deponti to the world: What someone said about Shelfari
http://deponti.livejournal.com/297115.html

superstarksa: Shelfari – A PSA
http://superstarksa.com/2007/10/07/shelfari-a-psa/

James Galvin: Mass Invitation Spam Becoming the Default
http://www.jamesgalvin.com/2007/10/31/mass-invitation-spam-becoming-the-default/

“Anyone who is thinking “it’s your fault for not reading the whole page before clicking ‘continue’”, has probably never worked in IT. You don’t log in to a server as root for the same reason the fabled “big red button” has a plastic cover over it. When you’re dealing with large amounts of contact data, you are required to take extra precautions to maintain privacy.”

coniecto: About privacy, user options and spam
http://coniecto.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html#2153656353676130681

The Boar’s Head Tavern: Shelfari = spam?
http://www.boarsheadtavern.com/archives/2007/08/30/1254533.html

The Credence Dot Com: Shelfari.com and Yarri.com Are Spammers too !
http://www.thecredence.com/shelfaricom-and-yarricom-are-spammers-too/

PAgent’s Progress: Shelfari — A Poor Start
http://pagentsprogress.com/?p=657

Snap Judgment: Shelfari Spam (Tamil?)
http://snapjudge.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/shelfari-spam/

Mammaloves: Shelfari Is Not My Friend–Yet
http://mammaloves.blogspot.com/2007/09/shelfari-is-not-my-friend.html

Daring Young Mom: Shelfari is LIKE a Virus
http://www.daringyoungmom.com/2007/10/03/shelfari-is-a-virus/

Erotic Romance: Shelfari My Arse…
http://www.erecsite.com/2007/07/shelfari-my-arse.html

We rest our case.

*I’ll post the URLs for this if anyone is interested.