Saturday, December 01, 2012

Graffiti Reviews: Twitter's Revenge

Today there was another bit of kerfuffle online about the terrible fact that non-professional bloggers are writing about books. The article, which I won't link to, seems to be made up of excessive verbiage coming from an old fart who takes umbrage with the idea that ANYONE can write about books. Bascially, the same old, same old. A quest for page views? Someone stirring the pot? Whatever.

Juxtabook brought it to my attention via Twitter, and of course, many other book bloggers on Twitter also quickly jumped on the story. One of the particularly amusing lines in his screed is:
 "If you’ve ever attempted to read a review on Amazon or on someone’s personal blog, you know it’s identical to seeking relationship advice on the wall of a public restroom."

This, of course, amused us greatly, none more so than @bonjourcass who weighed in with:
HOLDEN CAULFIELD IS A PHONY 
and
HESTER PRYNNE IS A SLUT 

Which led, inevitably, to a great new blogger project: the Graffiti Reviews Project. Simply put, @bonjourcass, @litomnivore, @amckiereads and myself, @melwyk, were chatting about the possibilities inherent in having bloggers worldwide post brief book recommendations in bathroom stalls -- on a post-it, of course, we don't hold with permanent graffiti even if in the service of good reading! It's simple: create a post-it with a book rec, take a snap, and post on twitter with the hashtag #Graffitireviews (and be sure to spell it correctly, unlike myself... who then had to run back and fix my spelling in my graffiti post-it!) Be creative with your graffiti and spread the love of great books! Take a look at the  first example, by @litomnivore, for inspiration! Join in and have fun with it ~ creativity is always the best way to deal with curmudgeons :)

**Literary Omnivore now has an official post up about this project -- check it out and please, join in!

**Bonjour Cass has created a Tumblr site to submit your photos to as well, if you are a Tumblr fan

20 comments:

  1. This is the best idea ever :D

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  2. What a fun idea! I especially like the non permanent graffiti.

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  3. Awesome. Truly inspired and awesome.

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  4. I love this idea! I'll be looking out for this hashtag and will join in when I can.

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  5. I hope everyone who wants to will join in... I'm planning a few guerrilla visits to public bathrooms soon... :) Maybe I'll even sneak into a men's room!

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  6. FUN! I love this idea! I shall try to travel around with post-it notes now :-)

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  7. I love this. Now I just have to find a reason to go someplace with a public washroom (that isn't a library...) And remember my post-its...

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  8. Indeed... with a trusty Sharpie and a pocket full of post-its we will go forward and find public washrooms to graffiti! ;)

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  9. This sounds like a lot of fun! It's 2am and I want to go out to find a restroom :)
    What a fantastic idea.

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  10. I never realised that my little rant over that article would lead to such creativity!

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  11. This is hilarious! Of course it would non-permanent graffiti. We're the same people who cringe whenever we see scribble in a library book!
    The fact that the elitist old guard of the book world are so uncomfortable right now makes me smile. ANYONE can write book reviews, just like ANYONE can write books! It's all more democratic now. I love it.

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  12. Angela - can't respond to such vitriol with anything but fun ;)

    Juxtabook - thank goodness you were able to give us a place to leap from without having to link to the original article, haha. I hope you will try this out yourself and spread the movement worldwide.

    Misfortuneofknowing - right?? such fun. Try it and share your tag!

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  13. LOVE this idea and will try to join in!

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  14. Oh, I love this! I will have to choose my review and my bathroom stall carefully!

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  15. Iris, Bookwyrme, Michelle - glad to hear it! Can't wait to see your graffiti tags ;)

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  16. What a fun idea! Now I just have to find some post-its, write a review and locate a public restroom :)

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  17. What a wonderful idea! I don't have Twitter but will certainly post sticky-note-washroom-reviews on the blog.

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Thanks for stopping by ~ I always enjoy hearing your comments so please feel free to leave some!