I recently gave a presentation on BookCrossing at the Mensa Annual Gathering, so I feel like I ought to state how I feel about the even more recent changes to the website. Much has changed in the last month, and I can see how it would be confusing to somebody who has now out-of-date information I had given them.
In a nutshell, the BookCrossing PTBs rolled out a new version of the website, and this update drastically restructured the features available at the two levels of membership (paying and non-paying). Lots of members got extremely ticked off, and some left in a big huff. I am not one of them.
Do I think the revisions could have been handled better? Yes, I do.
One of the biggest changes was that non-paying members were limited to a very small number of forum posts and private messages (PMs) per month. The initial outcry was so vehement that BookCrossing relented and increased this number to a more reasonable level. I believe a little more research and a bit of a heads-up could have saved them some grief there. There are some who think that the forums and PMs should be free and unlimited to everybody, but it seems to me that this was a logical place to cut back on features for non-paying members. The forums are a huge money pit, and one can be an extremely active BookCrosser without so much as dipping a toe into the forums. (One could even argue that the forums are such a time-suck that a "good" BookCrosser would be reading or releasing books instead of hanging out in the forums.) There are also plenty of online meeting places (Vox, LiveJournal, Facebook, Yahoogroups, etc) for BookCrossers who want some virtual socializing. Limiting PMs has the biggest negative impact on two groups--spammers and organizers. Limiting the spammers (and book-leeches) is a good thing. I do feel for the members who like to organize meetings and bookrings and such but who have a hard time paying for membership, though. But there are ways around this. Again, there are plenty of off-site resources that could be utilized by non-paying members who'd like to stay involved in the larger community, and their profiles could be updated to tell everybody where they're hanging out now.
Though that is another bone of contention. Apparently the new version of the website automatically shut down profile updates for non-paying members. Without warning. Not good. It's one thing to limit the profile space allotted to a non-paying member, but to refuse updates just seems wrong to me. I don't see how that benefits anybody. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but I think there have been some compromises since then. I'd like to hear comments from anybody more knowledgeable regarding this aspect of the site change.
There have been various other changes to the site (some for the better, some not so much, and some neutral) that should have been explained in advance. Like the wishlist feature. And the added "preferences" and their default settings. And the changes to the releasing interface. But I think people will gradually get used to them.
I have heard a lot of complaints about the site being a "business" now instead of the labor of love Ron Hornbaker created. But the essential features of the site (not to mention some nifty non-essential features) are still completely free, and if Ron and the other original founders hadn't spun it off as a true business when they did, it would have collapsed under a mountain of bills. Just because it's a business and its owners would like to make a profit (or at least break even), that doesn't mean that I shouldn't express my delight with the product. Just like I pay for Flickr membership and tell others how much I enjoy it. Just like I make payments on my PT Cruiser and wear my PT Cruiser watch and my PT Cruiser bracelet and put a little parade of model PT Cruisers on my desk at work. So the BookCrossing site isn't perfect, and it isn't unlimitedly free. But what is? All in all, I still love BookCrossing, I'm staying (and paying when I can), and I will continue to promote it.
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