Reading in social networks: analysis possibilities for researchers

The web affords many opportunities to study and analyze people’s opinions and behaviors, including reading behavior. In this paper, we analyze three social networks devoted to books and readings (Goodreads, LibraryThing and Amazon), in order to understand the type of information they can offer about reading behaviors, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data on the three platforms include, among the others, the number of readers, as well as the number of reviews and discussions on a specific book. These data can be shown in temporal graphs in order to appreciate their evolution over time. As for the qualitative type of data, the textual information available in reviews and discussions allows for different types of analysis. As an example, we propose an analysis of the reviews published on a book in Amazon and a topical analysis of discussions about a novel for young readers in Goodreads