social networks

Amazon announced today it was acquiring popular book-centric social network Goodreads. What does this mean for the 16 million users and 30,000 book clubs currently on Goodreads? In a letter posted to the site's blog, founder Otis Chandler says the active community that created book friends and fans around the world isn't going anywhere, though integrating the Goodreads platform with Amazon's Kindle is now a "top priority."

For ebook readers, that could mean the possibility of seamlessly posting book reviews through Kindle or adding just-purchased books from Amazon to bookshelves. Not all are excited by the prospects, though, as several Goodreads users commented on the blog post to express their disappointment with the corporate ownership.

Member Mustafa said, "I get it, you need money. But I hope Amazon does not hinder the ability to buy books from other sites and prevent competition." On the literature website BookRiot's Facebook page, many Goodreads users had a negative reaction to the news. "Yes, it does affect how I feel about Goodreads. How can it continue to be objective regarding book reviews?" said Marjorie Wertz. However, several posters did greet the news with excitement at the chance to have the Goodreads experience on Kindle.

Whether or not you care who owns Goodreads or how it'll change with this acquisition, there are several other book social networks we've come to love as well. Discover them below, and share with us which is your favorite (and, ahem, some sci-fi book recommendations are always welcome!).

• Anobii — Latin for "bookworm," Anobii allows you to embed your virtual bookshelf from the site to a personal website, so you can share your current reads without even having to worry about social media plug-ins.
• Bookish — Need a book recommendation? Bookish is your source. As you would fine-tune a music station on Pandora by adding more musicians or specific songs, Bookish lets you input up to four books when making its next literary reference to you.
• Shelfari — Already owned by Amazon, Shelfari allows users to sign in with an Amazon ID to add notes to a book's page. We love the "Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis" and the option to hide spoilers.

Sign online in the morning and it's likely your first stop of the day is a social network. We pour our lives into these digital communities, sharing party photos, funny videos, and clever status updates. Do you know who's looking at all these updates, though? Take today's Spring cleaning tips as the chance to finally update your social media privacy settings and take charge of the online image you're sharing with the world. Perform a social media audit by following these tips to put your best profile forward.

• Search yourself — Sign out of every social media account and view how your profile looks to a stranger. Does any embarrassing or questionable material show up that you'd rather future employers, family members, or anyone of significance not see? First, secure your public accounts if you prefer to control who sees your tweets and "likes." Update account privacy settings to further secure your profile from people you are already linked to, or play it safe and delete the material entirely. Go an extra step and Google your name to ensure there's really nothing wild out on the Internet you don't want others to see.
• Use a pseudonym — If you're looking to keep your online activity private, don't sign up for accounts under your full name. Also avoid usernames you used before privacy was a concern, you know, like that AIM handle from high school that's just slightly inappropriate for anyone over the age of 16.
• Use an alternate email — In addition to the alias, separate your social media accounts from your work and personal email by using a secondary email account in your profile information. This way people searching for your profile via your personal email address won't find you as easily. Don't worry if your Facebook or Pinterest account have already been created, you can change the default email address.
• Prevent future offenses — Avoid future online embarrassing moments by keeping your social record clean. Don't add photos of you raging at a party to Facebook or bite your digital tongue when it comes to ranting about a current work situation. Even with hypersecure privacy settings, a good rule of thumb is just never share images or thoughts online you wouldn't want forwarded to someone else, since anyone can screen capture your content.

Britney Spears has joined Path after visiting the SF HQ yesterday. Path has been around since 2010, but recently found a surge in popularity after its last update in 2011 that revamped its UI. Britney is no stranger to social networks, as she has over 2.3 million followers on Google+ (a tech-focused and male-dominated network, no less) and over 14 million followers on Twitter. But I know what you're thinking — "Do I really need yet another social network?" Here's three reasons why Britney Spears (and you) might love Path.

• It's limited to your closest friends — Path only allows you 150 friends on its network. This helps your inner circle stay close and informed, while keeping your news feed free of too much "clutter" from your acquaintances and distant relatives. But this spells bad news for her millions of fans — this is one social network you won't be able to follow her on.
• It's beautiful — The Path app looks amazing on your iPhone or Android device, with big photos that you can edit using a number of Instagram-like filters right in the app. Path also allows you to create a "cover photo" (just like on your Facebook Timeline), that gives your profile an extra boost of personality.
• You can share more of what you love — Path allows you to share "moments" with your friends and family, including check-ins, photos, music that you're listening to, as well as text updates. You can even easily choose to share (or not; it's up to you) these moments on your other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Tumblr.

Are you already on Path? Tell us what you like about it (or don't like about it) in the comments!

We've seen some pretty awesome usage of Legos that show that the bricks aren't just child's play. Now you can share your own impressive creations with a group of enthusiastic fans on the Lego-sponsored social network ReBrick.

Though the site is run by the Lego company itself, it's not designed to sell new Lego sets. Instead, its purpose is to let the creativity of the community speak for itself. As you would with a Facebook Like button, ReBrick uses a browser bookmarking function for users to share stunning brick finds and cool photos with the network. Follow users whose work you love, browse the most viewed photos, and receive community feedback as you would with any other creative social platform, like Instagram for example, only with that colorful brick angle.

A team of official moderators and community members work diligently to ensure content is appropriate for all users and the house rules of the site are maintained, making the site something both children and adult Lego brick-builders can enjoy.

Source: Flickr User Avrene

While most social networks offer enhanced privacy settings, which will allow you to keep your profiles private, there are a handful of things you can do to make your accounts less accessible and susceptible to searches made by your new guy's ex or an old friend you don't want to have to ignore online. Check out these tips on staying private online.

• Create an Alternate Email Address For Account Sign-Up — If you don't want to be found, sign up for your social networking sites — from Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter — with a secondary or alternate email address so when people search for you based on the email in their contact list, they don't find you immediately. This will allow you more control of who can see your profiles. If your accounts are already set up, change the default email to a new one to prevent any new snoops. You may also consider using one email account when you sign up for sites in an effort to keep your social networking organized.
• Disable All GPS/Locator Apps and Settings — Don't want people to know you're tweeting from the coffee shop around the corner from your ex's at 9 a.m., on Sunday? Don't tweet with your location enabled, and don't sign up for Google Latitude, which will allow friends insight into your locale.
• Go Invisible or Block and Group People You Don't Want to Talk To — Don't want to see your boss on Gchat every time you sign on, or don't want your ex's ex to be able to see your Facebook profile? Play with your settings! AIM, Gchat, and any major chat client will allow you to make yourself invisible or block a specific list of people. Check out Facebook's guide to blocking people for support. You can also use friend lists on Facebook to control how much certain or all friends see.

See the rest of the tips after the break.

Feeling victim to social network fatigue? Whether you follow 500 people or friend 70 people, it can sometimes seem like weeks have passed by without an interesting tweet, status, or mobile upload. Break out of the rut and sign up for these four social networks guaranteed to make Internet sharing fun again.

• Pinterest — Share your design aesthetic and all those gorgeous little things you come across when surfing the web. This site has users set up boards around a central theme like "camera accessories," "cool typography," or "Star Trek crafts" to share with the community. The in-browser add button makes pinning a cinch, and the simple user interface keeps site exploration from being overwhelming.
• Instagram — A beautiful, easy way to show friends what you're doing without word limits. Available as a free iPhone app, take a photo in Instagram, add a filter, a quick caption, and easily share with followers or to Facebook and Twitter. The process is really that easy, and, after all, a picture is worth much more than 140 characters.
• Tumblr — Sign in to Tumblr and just try to spend less than an hour on this sharing, blogging platform. With predesigned templates and a user-friendly dashboard, the personal blog you've been putting off can finally find a home. Search for other blog interests to follow, reblog their posts, and grow your own Tumblr community.
• GetGlue — For entertainment junkies, connect with fellow Mad Men junkies when you check in as viewing a show or waiting in line for the newest Hollywood release. GetGlue partners with the media providers themselves to offer discounts and rewards to loyal gluers.

Refreshing your Twitter feed for breaking news is one thing, but becoming a slave to your social networks is another. While some people use Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media to stay in touch with friends, others can't step away for five minutes without losing their minds. Are you one of them? Here, five signs you may be addicted to your social networks and what you can do about it.

• You're constantly checking for updates — Checking Facebook or Twitter for new updates a few times a day is one thing, but if you're checking on the bus, as soon as you get to work, constantly hitting the refresh button on your browser, and several times at night is going overboard. Sure, slacking off at work every so often has been proven to increase productivity, but if you're missing deadlines and getting into hot water with the boss because of your incessant need to examine your networks, you could have a problem.

Get the rest of the symptoms after the jump.