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Umgowa

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First of all I want to say how helpful these postings have been. Thanks so much. In my reading, I kept coming across the word Goodreads so I figured I could find out more about it by signing up. I had some problems signing up and I could use some help. The top box asked for my name, then the middle box asked for my email address , then the bottom box a password. No problem so far. Then I clicked to continue and immediately three questions arose:
1. I get an option that says "Continue with Facebook". My question is . . . I am signing up for Goodreads, why does the issue of Facebook even come up?

2. I get a second option that says "Continue with Amazon". Again, I am signing up for Goodreads, why does the issue of Amazon even come up?

3. I get a third option under the heading "Sign up with email" . . . and under that option it says "Sorry, you must enter a name to sign up for Goodreads." My question here is . . . I put my name on the previous page in the top box. I put in my first and last name.WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM ME HERE?

Any help you could give me on the above issues would be most appreciated.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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1. I get an option that says "Continue with Facebook". My question is . . . I am signing up for Goodreads, why does the issue of Facebook even come up?

Because you can connect your Goodreads and Facebook accounts to 1) upload any books you may have put on FB as being a fan of and 2) Easily connect with FB friends who have goodreads accounts

2. I get a second option that says "Continue with Amazon". Again, I am signing up for Goodreads, why does the issue of Amazon even come up?

Because Goodreads can upload the books you've bought from Amazon if you connect your Amazon account, saving you time from having to manually enter the books.

3. I get a third option under the heading "Sign up with email" . . . and under that option it says "Sorry, you must enter a name to sign up for Goodreads." My question here is . . . I put my name on the previous page in the top box. I put in my first and last name.WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM ME HERE?

Any help you could give me on the above issues would be most appreciated.

Might have been a glitch. Sometimes data doesn't save between pages.
 

Umgowa

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Thanks, Maggie. Very helpful. I kept trying and discovered that you were correct. The data did not save between pages. It finally accepted my sign-on. I did find it very puzzling that the program insisted my Goodreads account be linked to something . . . either Facebook, Amazon, my Gmail account or to my Twitter account. . . . I tried linking it to my Gmail account and the program told me that this would give Goodreads access to all my addresses in my account . . . That seemed way too intrusive. So I then linked it to my Twitter account and found success. I would love to know what the benefits are of having my Goodreads account linked to my Twitter account. Here's a guess . . . Does Twitter, perhaps function as a catapult to get one's Goodreads activity out there to a wider audience? Any thoughts you might have on any of the above would be most appreciated. Thanks.
 

WriterBN

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I'm one of those paranoid people who believes in never connecting your social media accounts. Don't use Facebook to log into Goodreads; it'll scrape all your "friend" information.

Years ago, when I signed up for Goodreads, I used a Gmail account. Even though I never gave Goodreads permission, it spammed all my Gmail contacts with an invitation to sign up for Goodreads in my name. I had to contact everyone individually and apologize.

I still use Goodreads, but that experience marked the beginning of my paranoia.
 

RobertLCollins

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Goodreads will allow you to share what you post there to Facebook and Twitter, if you allow it to. There are settings in Goodreads to let you control how much is shared. The common things that get shared are when a user updates their reading status (say 44% done with X book) or when a book review is posted. I don't let any of that get shared, largely so I don't spam my friends' feeds with Goodreads posts.

There was a time when it was desirable to link social media accounts. You didn't have to remember as many passwords, and your log-ins went more smoothly. With all the problems social media platforms have had of late, it's not seen as such a good thing anymore. For me, Safari is excellent at keeping passwords and keeping them safe, so I'm happy to keep all my log-ins separate.

Goodreads is ideal for letting readers find your books. It's also ideal for letting your friends and readers know what you're reading and what you've read. The best way I've found to interact on Goodreads is through clubs. I'm in a handful of book clubs. I tend to post what I'm reading, plus the odd comment now and again, and sometimes I post when I have a book out. I also have my Goodreads account tied into my blog, so my blog posts show up there. Explore the site to figure it all out. There's a Frequently Asked Questions section that I think will also help you out.