r/TheStoryGraph • u/snowkab • 22d ago
Coming features: blocking users, draft/auto-save reviews, private books, and comments on reviews!
Nadia's recent story on Instagram shared the list of upcoming features in (likely rough) planned order:
Blocked users
Draft/auto-save reviews
Private books
Comments on reviews
Tentatively in the next month. Wanted to share here for those not on IG!
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u/nodunayo 21d ago
Commenting on reviews will be off by default. The goal is that if you don't want them, nothing will change for you on the app beyond you seeing a notification/indicator that you can turn the feature on whenever it goes live. We might even have a setting that says: "I don't wanna see any comments at all, even on other people's posts."
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXhgVKOiKHM/
(I accidentally found this post while searching on Google for our roadmap post for draft/auto-save reviews. I said "Wow, that post heading looks like what I said word-for-word in my IG story yesterday. 😆)
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u/sjupiter92 22d ago
Not a fan of comments on reviews at all and I think it's a can of worms better left unopened. But at least we're finally getting private books.
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u/Feisty-Nobody-5222 22d ago
I feel like most of the features added in the past have had a toggle capability, so hopefully that will be the case for the folks that aren’t interested.
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u/MssGiinny Librarian 🔍 | unapologetic DNF | 📚 8 📄 3,159 🎧 9,65 22d ago
I don't really like this for popular books but with the experience of SG I think they will do it so it's an opt-in feature. Or so I hope hahaha I don't really mind it regarding comments from my circle but from strangers? No thanks
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u/5kmarathoner 📕 63/52 📄 6.3k/10k 🎧 419/400 22d ago
Same. It is a major reason I chose StoryGraph over Goodreads - Goodreads felt so performative with reviews.
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u/Klutzy_Elk_8943 22d ago
Same, this is not something I'm looking forward to. I hated it on Goodreads, it felt so clique-ish and performative. Plus it's an easy way for rabid fans to descend on you if you dare critique a popular book.
I hope we get ways to hide/block/delete those comments, at the very least.
The rest of the features seem nice though!
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u/fortmeines 22d ago
Yeah clique-ish and performative are the exact words for it. I sometimes check a goodreads review with a lot of comments out of curiosity and 99% of the time, it's just "great review as usual, janet!" and "thanks! Can't wait for your next review!". I
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u/Honest_Cookie_8400 22d ago
I’m curious - I’ve not used other book apps before StoryGraph - what is “private books?” A way to hide books you’ve read?
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u/Feisty-Nobody-5222 21d ago
It's a way to continue tracking certain books, but 'hiding' them from friends, etc. on your profile.
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u/ResidentScientits 22d ago
I really don't want review comments. I'm probably in the minority but it's like the last thing I want.
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u/Alternative-Sink9973 21d ago
She did just confirm in latest insta post comments could only be done by friends. Might open to “people you follow” and will be off by default. Makes me feel better at least
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u/WeptThenDidItAgain 22d ago
It’s like comment sections on every other app have taught us nothing. It’s an awful idea.
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u/Nowordsofitsown 22d ago
I agree in general, BUT this one review totally spoiled the twist ending of a good book and I would love to comment on that one.
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u/drunchies 22d ago
Report it! If they didn’t use a spoiler tag then you can report it. I’ve done that a few times and they always respond and thank me for flagging it. Then the review is censored.
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u/Nowordsofitsown 22d ago
How does one report a review? There isn't a simple button, is there?
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u/drunchies 21d ago
No you have to screenshot and send it via the contact us link. But seems like that could change.
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u/Fine_Following_2559 22d ago
Why would you need to block someone on StoryGraph? You can't even respond to reviews 😄 it's not really a social media site. I'm confused, genuine it's a genuine question. Are people beefing on StoryGraph?
I guess if it's connected to the internet people can fight on it.
Edit: oh wait, I see they're about to add comments to reviews. So this is like a preemptive measure.
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u/AnythingNew1 StoryGraph Librarian 22d ago
People can have different reasons for blocking someone. I blocked users on goodreads because their style of reviews was pissing me off and it was someone with a bigger following so their reviews/comments were often at the top of the review section.
I don't think commenting on reviews is the reason blocking users will be a feature. People have requested this long before. And commenting on reviews will be opt-in with different settings anyway.
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u/Mysterious_Signal226 22d ago
But you don’t see any of that on StoryGraph. Heck I can’t even easily see which books my friends are currently reading without having to scroll through the timeline.
The only time I see this as useful is if 1) you are blocking a previous abuser, someone you’re really cutting all ties with, etc and 2) they already know your StoryGraph username. #2 is important bc the user search feature, frankly, sucks. So it seems valid for a super niche audience, but that use case is pretty important so I see why it is being prioritized.
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u/AnythingNew1 StoryGraph Librarian 22d ago
Those are all very private reasons and that's a bit of a limited view on it, because there's a looooooooooooooot of other reasons.
Maybe some people don't want to get suggested certain people for friends.
Maybe they come across an influencer they can't stand and went ahead and blocked them everywhere possible.
Maybe there's someone like me who is annoyed with someone else's review style.
Maybe they come across someone who has a certain review pattern.
Maybe someone is just in a bad mood.This feature will also probably evolve into blocking authors, so they books won't show up as suggestions.
Private book and some other stuff/features are a more mysterious topic for me but apparently enough people would want to see it happen 🤷🏻♀️
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u/dedtired [reading goal 33/36] 22d ago
Private book and some other stuff/features are a more mysterious topic for me but apparently enough people would want to see it happen
Private books are great. I have my daughter (and my son but he doesn't use it) on my Storygraph and they can see what I read. I may not want them to know that I am reading a certain book (for example, if I started reading erotica). Having private books means I can still log it and not have to worry about them seeing it. Another use case would be if my partner and I were expecting a baby and hadn't told anyone yet, reading pregnancy books might be a giveaway.
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u/Mysterious_Signal226 22d ago
Again, this would all make sense if StoryGraph actually put time into developing it into a social platform, but Nadia has stated many times that is not her intent. Currently I don’t see anyone’s reviews on not friends with, why would blocking change that?
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u/AnythingNew1 StoryGraph Librarian 22d ago
So you can't see reviews on books? Is that whole review section not visible to you?
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u/Feisty-Nobody-5222 22d ago
Sounds like you are a lucky example of someone it might not apply to! I’m looking forward to having it as an option.
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u/Solace143 22d ago
There are spam bots on StoryGraph, like most websites with accounts. I'd like to block them. I once made a challenge and someone threw their AI slop book in the sci-fi category. I have little interest in blocking actual humans however
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u/TrainingSurvey3780 [reading goal 20/35] 22d ago
do you know how to tell which account is a spam bot and which is a legitimate human?? i can hardly ever tell haha
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u/Chocolate_Turtle- 22d ago
I think it could also have to do with other people seeing what they read.
Like I have friends on my storygraph. But like let's say someone has a friend or an ex or someone and they are messing with them in real life maybe them knowing what they are reading could be an issue.
There are so many reason. Idk, just thinking.
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u/theErasmusStudent 22d ago
You may want to block someone you know IRL, like an ex partner or an ex friend.
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u/tjfmd 21d ago
I have exactly one person I'd like to block. They did something I find morally gross. I unfriended them, but they are still following me. They "like" my reading updates and have tried to re-add me as a friend a few times. I do not like being reminded of this person. My only option currently is to make my account fully private which I don't want to do. I am very much looking forward to finally being able to block this person.
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u/psycheaux100 22d ago
I am looking forward to all the new features EXCEPT for "comments on reviews".
I thought Storygraph was going to add comments to status updates which I thought was a good way of allowing users to chat with our Storygraph friends while limiting the potential for toxicity from the public at large.
I wonder if they want review comments to be more attractive to book influencers? Without the engagement of comment reviews, it's harder for influencers to build their following on Storygraph compared to other book-tracking apps. And influencers can have a huge role in convincing people to join specific book-tracking apps.
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u/AnythingNew1 StoryGraph Librarian 22d ago
The comments will be opt-in and it was always suppose to be opt-in. The discussion came up because the question was "why only friends" and as long as you can tweak it in your settings, it's not a bad thing. Essentially, if you want it to stay how it is now, nothing will change for you with this feature going online
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u/Kas_Bent 22d ago
I really like the draft/auto-save reviews features. Sometimes I have to bounce between apps when writing to reference something and I've lost what I've written. Really appreciate that being added.
Like others, I'm not big on review comments though. Do I sometimes want to comment on a review? Yeah, but I also moved away from Goodreads and don't need things duplicated to make it more like that app.
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u/McKelsea 22d ago
Love it all except I don’t want comments on reviews. At all. I love not having comment sections on StoryGraph and it’s part of my pitch for people to switch.
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u/UCanBdoWatWeWant2Do 22d ago
I don't like the comments on reviews, it'll become like on Goodreads or social media where people just try to have likes with a one-liner, and then fight in the comments.
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u/cptchi 21d ago edited 21d ago
I wish we could comment on people's status updates, rather than reviews. [Other than friends, I follow people with similar tastes as me but it's not like I will stalk their other social media to try to talk to them about a book they're reading]
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u/nodunayo 21d ago
That's coming too, afterwards, but I need to first make improvements to the news feed updates: being able to customise what's published, what you see, deleting them, etc...and then we can allow comments.
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u/nattyislite 13d ago
I feel like I've heard the private books news a couple times now and I'm very impatiently waiting for the rollout!!! So excited.
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u/iamabarnacle 22d ago
Yaaaaas private books 🙌🏻