Readernaut is Reading 2.0
Posted
It may not be obvious by my writing and general intelligence but I do in fact know how to read. I've even read some novels, and a few that didn't have big pictures. So when Jeff Croft mentioned Readernaut I got interested. I signed up for the beta and got my invitation a few weeks ago. At first I didn't know if I would actually use Readernaut, but I'm happy to say I do, and I like it.
Whaa?
So what is Readernaut? It is a social community of well read people that make me look like I'm shuffling through old copies of Highlights magazine. It's a place to catalog the books you have read, add new books, keep track of your reading, comment, and share insight on books. But most importantly it gives the dull act of reading a book a decidedly web 2.0 gradient vector icon feel.
I find myself checking the site for new notes concerning Anathem, or checking reviews of books I'm interested in. Adding recommended books to my "Plan to Read" list will be a huge savior to me in 2 years when I actually finish reading Anathem. The point being, I believe there are a few ways to use Readernaut, and not everyone will use it the same way.
The Experience
Readernaut is a sort of complex time line with various ways to filter information into what you are actually looking for. In a twitter like fashion you can start with the public time line and continue drilling down.
The site is pretty intuitive especially under the newest design. You have the timeline, your library, quick access to notes about your book, tags, contacts, and a profile. Each having their own options to organize the data. Books are organized with tags, which makes filtering your own books easy, but it also helps you find potential reading material. Which is where the real potential power of Readernaut comes in.
I haven't fully explored the community portion of Readernaut yet(mostly because none of my friends are members) but I can already see massive potential in finding what like minded people are reading. Readernaut also integrates with Amazon, which makes finding, adding, and buying books so incredibly easy Appalachian mountain people may find themselves reading(it's OK I grew up there).
It is hard to peg down the user experience because it is really up to the user how involved he(or she, women being allowed to read, who could've imagined?) will become in the site and community. It could be nothing more than bookmarking tool, or a full blown dating service depending on how you use the site.
Unfortunately you can't just go sign up for Readernaut quite yet, and there are no invitations to give out. But you can sign up for an invite which are sent out pretty steadily as Readernaut grows. But if you are a reader(naut) then I would suggest trying the site out. It has re-kindled my love for reading along with Neal Stephenson and Ruby on Rails books. And leave me a message if you're on it!