These days, there seems to be a social network for every community. Indigo’s latest announcement ensures that avid readers aren’t left out of the fun.
Reco is the first iOS app to be released by the book giant Indigo and offers a social platform for readers to connect, talk and give recommendations about books they’ve read to each other.
This app marks the first technology developed by Indigo since the various versions of its Kobo eReader, which has amassed millions of users since launch.
“As a lifelong booklover, nothing brings me more joy than sharing a book I love with my friends. Reco is a platform for everyone to share the joy of reading and nothing beats getting a recommendation from someone whose opinion I trust,” said Heather Reisman, the co-founder of Reco and Indigo’s CEO, in a statement.
The app will be available to readers worldwide and was developed in partnership with the Toronto-based innovation lab, Kinetic Café. Unlike many of the book recommendation services offered through current digital reading platforms, recommendations are provided through a real community rather than the suggestions of an algorithm.
This also differs from Kobo’s book recommendation algorithm which mines user reading data in order to send appropriate recommendations. Some of the app’s features include the ability to post recommendations to the platform as well as to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, text and via email.
Furthermore, within the app users have the ability to personalize their interests and discover new books based on those interests, track the books they’re currently reading as well as their reading goals, and finally, chat about all of this with other users of the app.
“Everyone agrees the best book recommendations come from friends, but we all spend too much time reading reviews from strangers and trusting algorithms to tell us what to read next, often with mixed results. Reco solves this problem by bringing personal book recommendations from people you trust right to your mobile device,” said Krishna Nikhil, Indigo’s executive vice president of print and strategy in a statement.
While book review and recommendation platforms such as Reco already exist — GoodReads is an example — this is the first time these services have been amalgamated into a platform designed for social networking.
Currently, Reco is available only on iOS, but an Android version is reportedly coming soon.
Image credit: bargainmoose
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