Beware the Goodreads profile!

When we worry about our employer or the deep state knowing our political views we generally think of a rashly reposted meme on Facebook. In fact an impulsively reposted meme tells the world relatively little about our beliefs apart from a general right/left orientation. If we wish to get inside someone’s head we must know what they are reading and this is where Goodreads is useful.

Goodreads is a social media platform owned by Amazon that posts the books we read for our friends to see and maybe buy themselves. It is a useful tool for those who are on an intellectual quest as the mainstream media will not review the books we are most likely to find interesting. If our employer gets to see this list they can almost see into our heads. The same is true of intelligence agencies who can probably predict future political alliances with a fair degree of accuracy. A much more social (and money saving) alternative is to create an informal book club. Discuss the books that have influenced us most and then lend them amongst ourselves. Goodreads was created to maximise book sales rather than reading.

There is no need to create any kind of formal structure. Simply start discussing the books we read.