Amazon goes on Shelfari

Acquires ~~face~~booky wooky start-up?

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 26th August 2008 14:40 GMT

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Amazon.com is buying Shelfari – that is, according to the Seattle social networking start-up, but for now the online retail giant is keeping mum about the deal.

Shelfari is a community and review site for books, or rather book readers. Co-founder and CEO Josh Hug cheerily announced the agreement in a blog post yesterday in which he said that the firm was joining the “Amazon.com family”.

“It’s an exciting day here at Shelfari. The rain has stopped, the birds are chirping and the biggest news of all – we are being acquired by Amazon.com,” he wrote.

“We’ve got some big plans ahead. With more resources and Amazon’s expertise in building a platform where people come to share ideas, there are a lot of new opportunities in the future that will benefit each of you.”

However, so far Amazon has remained silent about any possible takeover.

Shelfari, which launched in late 2006, cloyingly describes itself as “the leading social media site for people who love to read”. Amazon already part-owns the company. It helped prop up the Shelfari site with Series A funding alongside several other investors early last year.

El Reg asked Amazon if it plans to put out a statement seeing as Shelfari has already spilled the beans on the interweb. At time of writing we’ll still awaiting a response. ®

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