#amazonfail
Apr. 12th, 2009 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sub_dividedVia summertea:
Amazon.com removes sales rankings from print books tagged GLBT. Also books with BDSM themes and (explicit) heterosexual erotica.
This matters not just because it distorts figures to make already marginalized groups look even smaller, but because unranked books won't show up on front-page search results.
List of affected books.
Affected works of classic literature include: Tipping the Velvet, Maurice, The Well of Loneliness, The Charioteer.
Affected works of nonfiction include: The Dictionary of Homophobia, Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America.
Affected self-help books include: My Husband is Gay, The Way Out, Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws.
Though really it shouldn't matter whether a book is classic or not, nonfiction or not, explicit or not, A SUICIDE PREVENTION MANUAL or not. Suppression is suppression; manipulating sales data for political reasons is manipulating sales data for political reasons.
Three scenarios
1. This is a mistake, in which case it's dumb one Amazon deserves to lose business over;
2. Or it's the result of someone's moral crusade, in which case Amazon is sending a toxic message that it deserves to lose business and goodwill (long-term business) over;
3. Or (wacky conspiracy theory alert!) it's a business move designed to squeeze even more money from people who are already buying books online from Amazon because they are afraid to buy them in physical bookstores - hoping that desperation will force these people to shell out 3-4,000 dollars for Amazon's proprietary ebook reader, the Kindle. Which if true would be just despicable.
In the case of scenario #2:
I already hated buying from Amazon but this isn't something I ever expected them to do - am now determined to buy all my books/CDs/DVDs at physical stores, whenever I can. If Amazon thought that the business they'd lose from concerned parents who conclude that the site is a hotbed of degeneracy after seeing a gay historical romance at #10 on the "historical fiction" list, was more than the business they'll lose from outraged "degenerates" (and allies), I hope they'll think again.
EDIT: ALTERNATE THEORY: trolls are responsible.
EDIT2: Statement from Amazon.
Amazon.com removes sales rankings from print books tagged GLBT. Also books with BDSM themes and (explicit) heterosexual erotica.
This matters not just because it distorts figures to make already marginalized groups look even smaller, but because unranked books won't show up on front-page search results.
List of affected books.
Affected works of classic literature include: Tipping the Velvet, Maurice, The Well of Loneliness, The Charioteer.
Affected works of nonfiction include: The Dictionary of Homophobia, Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America.
Affected self-help books include: My Husband is Gay, The Way Out, Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws.
Though really it shouldn't matter whether a book is classic or not, nonfiction or not, explicit or not, A SUICIDE PREVENTION MANUAL or not. Suppression is suppression; manipulating sales data for political reasons is manipulating sales data for political reasons.
Three scenarios
1. This is a mistake, in which case it's dumb one Amazon deserves to lose business over;
2. Or it's the result of someone's moral crusade, in which case Amazon is sending a toxic message that it deserves to lose business and goodwill (long-term business) over;
3. Or (wacky conspiracy theory alert!) it's a business move designed to squeeze even more money from people who are already buying books online from Amazon because they are afraid to buy them in physical bookstores - hoping that desperation will force these people to shell out 3-4,000 dollars for Amazon's proprietary ebook reader, the Kindle. Which if true would be just despicable.
In the case of scenario #2:
I already hated buying from Amazon but this isn't something I ever expected them to do - am now determined to buy all my books/CDs/DVDs at physical stores, whenever I can. If Amazon thought that the business they'd lose from concerned parents who conclude that the site is a hotbed of degeneracy after seeing a gay historical romance at #10 on the "historical fiction" list, was more than the business they'll lose from outraged "degenerates" (and allies), I hope they'll think again.
EDIT: ALTERNATE THEORY: trolls are responsible.
EDIT2: Statement from Amazon.