Riffle, a social media site built exclusively for readers, has finally launched with visual appeal. Starting your account is simple. Log in with facebook and answer five questions then you’re good to go. Riffle will ask for genres you’re interested in and that may be your most important decision because what’s chosen determines which users you follow. You discover new books via recommendation and your network is based-on what you like so pick your interests wisely! What are you reading now? What books do you like? What genres are you interested in? Welcome to Riffle!
A window full of covers appears to fill the web-browser and, after clicking a book that attracts your attention, the cover pops to fill a quarter of the screen with a brief synopsis beside it. Click buttons above the description: Want to read, reading now, have read, recommend, and share or choose nothing and return to the homepage to gander another book cover.
From the homepage you can star books you’re interested in, mark books you’re reading, check books you’ve read, and heart books you recommend. The Foundation Pit is a book I’ve announced to my friends on Riffle that I’m interested in.
When users star recommendations you’ve made it builds your influence score. This reduces the probability users sift through hundreds of book covers before finding something they think is worth reading.
This site has a few problems. To start the experience, three of the favorite books ▲Church listed never appeared in its profile. Later, when browsing for books, the search field didn’t respond to the return command. And, to a book publisher, it’s unclear where Riffle pulls novels’ meta-data from!
The best part of Riffle is your profile. Twenty one questions pair books with events in your life like What book keeps you awake at night? Otherwise, the site is simply big, beautiful book covers and that’s what impressed ▲Church Publishing. Visual is not a term tied to texts and, as technology continues to alter our perception, maybe this social media site will usher in a day when people really can judge a book by its cover. That is…until a friend falls asleep with your favorite book under her bed sheets!
