Tampa Book Buzz

new facebook application for book lovers

Received via email:

SEATTLE, WA July 10, 2007 Shelfari (www.shelfari.com), the leading social media site for book lovers, today announced a new application for Facebook (www.facebook.com) members designed to let them easily rate, review and share their books with Facebook friends and connect with one another via their love of literature. Unlike the majority of Facebook book applications that were built by independent software developers as siloed communities, the Shelfari Facebook application connects with the vibrant community of Shelfari.com and enables users to connect their book activity within Facebook to the deep book-centered world on Shelfari.com.

Facebook application users can view all their books on a virtual bookshelf, import books already added on Shelfari.com, rate and review their books, and share those ratings and reviews automatically through Facebooks personal newsfeeds. They also can view the rich book information and discussions from Shelfari without leaving Facebook. To use the Shelfari application, Facebook members can go to: http://apps.facebook.com/shelfari/ or search for Shelfari directly from the Facebook applications directory.

The Facebook Platform represents a seismic shift in the way people are using social networks to express themselves and new applications like Shelfari will enable Facebook members to instantly engage with a large community of readers, said Josh Hug, Shelfari CEO and co-founder. The Shelfari application is unique because it not only enables Facebook members to quickly share their reading lists but it also provides an avenue of exploration via the Shelfari site which is deeper than what can be provided by an independent third party developer whose applications are disconnected from a larger, vertically-oriented community.

Launched in October 2006, Shelfari is one of the fastest growing vertically oriented social media sites on the Internet. With tens of thousands of bibliophiles already registered on the free site, Shelfari represents a vibrant community of readers who actively participate and express themselves through their passion for books. The Shelfari application for Facebook will further extend this community and enable Facebook members to explore and discover an entirely new landscape of books, authors, and fellow readers.

About Shelfari:  Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Shelfari is creating the worlds first social media site focused on books. A powerful yet simple interface enables Shelfari users (Shelfarians) to build virtual bookshelves and socially interact around the books they care about. The company was founded by three technology veterans from RealNetworks who believe that people want to discuss and discover great books online. Shelfari can be found by visiting www.shelfari.com.

I just joined Facebook about two weeks ago.  Good timing, huh?  I haven’t had a chance to try this out yet. If you have, let me know what you think about it.