Does Goodreads do book reviews?

Its widely acceptedin the indie publishing world [and beyond] that reviewers onthe social reading site Goodreads are more discerning / harsh than their counterparts on Amazon.com. Some people have suggested that Goodreads users are better read, and thereforechoosier about their books. Others have pointed to unscrupulous review practices that hit Amazon harder than other sites. Id like to point to a third contributor to Amazons optimistic reviews: User experience design. Specifically,the UX design at Amazon encourages better reviews from all of its users.

If we compare the process of reviewing books at Amazon and Goodreads, theres a big difference in how the ratings are presented. On Amazon, selecting any star level promptsthe UI to tell you what that review means. On Goodreads, you have to hover over the stars for a second or twoto get a tooltip with the suggested rating interpretation. Right off the bat, Amazons system goes farther to make the 5 star scale less subjective and have clearer defined meanings.

On top of that, Amazons interpretations are much more generous that Goodreads. For example, on Amazon 5 stars means I love it, and 4 stars means I like it. But at Goodreads, the UI says 5 star reviews are for amazing books, while 4 stars means I really liked it.

Heres a complete breakdown ofhow each site interprets the ratings:

• 5 Stars:OnAmazon: I love it; On Goodreads: it was amazing
• 4 Stars:OnAmazon: I like it; On Goodreads: really like it
• 3Stars:OnAmazon: Its okay; On Goodreads: liked it
• 2 Stars:OnAmazon: I dont likeit; On Goodreads: it was ok
• 1 Star:OnAmazon: I hateit; On Goodreads: did not like it

The way Amazon has designed its interface explicitly sets the bar lower every rating. Think a book was OK? Thats 3 stars on Amazon and 2 stars on Goodreads. Like a book? 4 stars onAmazon and 3on Goodreads. And so on and so forth.

I know that due to these scale differences Ive given a book 4 stars on Goodreads and 5 stars on Amazon. I lovedthe book, but I wouldnt go so far as to call it amazing and I followed the sites guidelines. These guidelines definitely shape other users ratings as well, and over time that changed behavior will raise Amazons average scores meaningfully. A lot of books that would read receive poor to middle scores on Goodreads will receive middle to good scores on Amazon.

One could certainly debate whether or not there is any sinister motivation behind this system. Some might say that Amazons reviews are there to encourage others to buy products, not give unbiased opinions, and therefore high reviews serve their purposes better. You could also argue that the language behind the scales is arbitrary, and that Amazon may have just chosen that language based on other factors. Whether or not they had some reason to intend it, Amazons ratings are higher than others by design.