Disclaimer: In the interests of full-disclosure, you should know that this post is about technology. While there is no techie-speak involved, it is about technology nonetheless. Techno-phobes be warned!
I’ve been accused by many of being a total geek. They’re probably right.
Even though I consider myself to be the least geeky technology person I know, there are some aspects of technology which make me giddy.
If you pair my love of cool technology with my even bigger love of BOOKS, you’ve got a recipe for off the charts giddiness.
Such was my joy today when I visited one of my favorite spots on the net – LivingSocial.
LivingSocial is social networking tool that lets you catalog your interests and share them with other people. Right now you can manage books, tv shows, music, movies, video games restaurants and beer. I use the books feature and on a lesser scale music. If they add shoes and wine to their offerings then my cup will runneth over – hopefully with a tasty pinot noir. 
So here’s how it works. I’ll use the book example because that’s what I love.
I use LivingSocial:Books to keep a record of all the books I am reading, have read and want to read. Adding books is as easy as searching for a book on Amazon. And just like Amazon, LivingSocial makes recommendations for you based on your prior selections. How cool is that?
If someone recommends a book to me I add it to my list and mark it as Want to Read. With one click I can change a book’s status from Want to Read to Already Read.
In and of itself, the ability to have a database of all the books I’m interested in is very cool – but it gets better.
What makes this a social network is the fact that it’s — well– “social”. You can become “friends” with other people in the same way you do on MySpace or Facebook. I can see what books my friends are reading. I can check out book reviews written by my friends and others. I can write my own reviews. I can also participate in discussions of books with other people on LivingSocial who have read them
There’s more! I know – its all too much – but stick with me.
Because the folks who develop LivingSocial are too cool for school, you can also use LivingSocial in Facebook and some other social networks. I first started using LivingSocial in Facebook and continue to do so. I love checking out what my friends are reading. Even those in other countries who I don’t get to speak to very often. I often discover new books by following what they’re reading and vice versa.
Today I discovered the latest feature to be added to LivingSocial and I LOVE it.
It’s a nifty little widget which you can check out in the sidebar on the right of this blog. (If you read my posts via e-mail you’ll need to go to the site in order to see the widget).
The widget allows me to embed my LivingSocial account on the blog. You can see what I’m reading right now. And yes, if you’re wondering, it’s very current and accurate. The books that you see there are the books sitting on my night stand. As soon as I start a new book I add it to my now reading list. I’m pretty obsessive about it.
If you click on the blue next button, you can also see a couple of other lists: some of my favorite spiritual reads, books I’ve already read and books I plan on reading some day.
If you’re an avid reader, I highly recommend LivingSocial. Visit them at http://www.livingsocial.com to see how it works. If you decide you love it, look me up and add me as a friend.
If you’re already on FaceBook and you’re one of my friends, you can check out my profile and you’ll see my books on there. You can add LivingSocial to your own Facebook account from there.
If you’re not already on FaceBook and want to get started, then go ahead and Facebook me! You know you want to.
Happy Reading.
