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Thinking about the homes I used to have on the internet and what they may look like in the future. 

https://jared.xyz/home-on-the-internet

We've been thinking a lot about what a digital coffee table or bookshelf would look like...

Part of the reason Letterboxd and Goodreads (despite a pretty rough UX) have done well is because that tap into powerful forms of self-expression, and being able to find & connect with other people that share your interests & taste in stuff that matters to you. 

We saw these dynamics in a big way at Crunchyroll too.

Would love to hear any ideas for what we could do along these lines.

Yep, I mostly agree.

I know some people that use Goodreads as more of a data tracker app (so the tie in with Kindle is important).

And then I know others — surprisingly younger folks — who use it to find other readers that have a similar taste and then find what to read through their bookshelves & activity.

I left book publishing a decade ago, and in that time, the Goodreads user experience has remained largely unchanged. This raises an important question: what’s the value prop that keeps users returning despite the outdated UX? I think it’s less about connecting with others—platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok already do that more effectively. What Goodreads and Letterboxd truly excel at is allowing users to showcase their virtual bookshelves or film catalogs for all to see. Everything else in the services seems to support this core value prop. At its essence, people love displaying their "collections."

(paɪəˈnɪərɪŋ ˈspɪrɪt) a willingness to endure hardship in order to explore new places or try out new the new
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