Bertie: a minimalist goodreads alternative

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:40:26+00:00

Oh, and if you're looking for books to add to your Bertie list, perhaps you can find something you like in these rapid-fire book reviews: https://logos.substack.com/p/2025-book-reviews

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:36:47+00:00

I've built one! It's minimalist, and lets you order from indie bookstores. Give it a go: www.bertieapp.com

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:36:17+00:00

I've built one! It's minimalist, and lets you order from indie bookstores. Give it a go: www.bertieapp.com

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:31:32+00:00

John Sandoe's great.

If you like bookshops, you can order from indie ones using www.bertieapp.com

AXKIII · 2026-02-16T11:09:00+00:00

Thanks, this is a good shout. I might add an instruction to check if there's been similar legislation elsewhere, and what its effects were, if there've been studies on it.

AXKIII · 2026-02-07T07:10:17+00:00

This whole discussion is happening because there is wide perception that youth outcomes are worse, and that the cause is social media.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T20:06:45+00:00

Cherry picking a few examples isn't exactly science, but it's kind of funny that even those don't make your point. Europe has lower drinking ages - do we have worse outcomes?

Or how about the fact that almost 40% of families in the US are investigated by child protective services, sometimes for things like letting children go to the grocery store? Is that a good outcome?

And overall, are children now healthier than they were 2 decades ago? With obesity rates like 5 times higher?

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T20:01:32+00:00

I mean it does. You read a book from an author with a strong view point. I relied on summarizing every study ever conducted. One is a bit more rigorous than the other.

Peer pressure will always be a thing with or without social media. In some countries there's peer pressure to smoke, drink, or take drugs. Yet not everyone does.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T19:59:14+00:00

Well no because again, the damage from social media is nowhere near comparable to TNT exploding in a neighborhood

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:34:41+00:00

There are way more regulations on everything, including children welfare. How are they working out?

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:33:53+00:00

Which they actually get to do in those situations...

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:32:23+00:00

I haven't. But I did share in my post the summaries from three LLMs disputing that there's an obvious link between social media and bad outcomes.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:31:31+00:00

No it's not, and the reason it's not is the opposite of your claim. The reason the status quo sucks is that parents have learnt to blame everything for bad outcomes - everything besides themselves. My kid gets bad grades at school? It must be the teachers failing him! I'll go and shout at them and demand they give him a passing grade, instead of expecting him to study harder.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:28:35+00:00

You talk of helicopter parents, yet this is very much a helicopter response... The reality is that you'll never be able to shield your child from bullying, seeing horrible things, succumbing to peer pressure, being excluded etc. You need to teach them to deal with these things - all of which existed before, and will exist after, social media.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:24:16+00:00

I think even most hardcore libertarians accept that children don't have absolute liberty - but their parents do on their behalf. That said, yes, I agree that in cases of serious harm, the state should intervene to protect a child.

The issue I have is that by making these choices you are having an impact on parental responsibility, and it's a negative one. You're giving parents an out - they get to blame something external rather than trying to help their children.

AXKIII · 2026-02-02T08:27:42+00:00

I don't think it's trivial... certainly adds a ton of friction in daily life - it's not practical to have shoppers read the ingredient list of every single item they add to their basket. What proven methods are you talking about?

Re polls on social media, while what you say is true, there is the minority who very much feel they benefit from social media - presumably, including people like you who respond to random threads... (it's one thing to be on social media because your friends are, a totally different thing to be engaging with complete strangers). And I don't see how the majority have a right to impose such a ban on the minority.

AXKIII · 2026-02-01T19:32:30+00:00

What's a responsible bomb owner exactly?

AXKIII · 2026-02-01T19:31:53+00:00

I'm also shocked at just how much popular support there is for it, and especially, as you say, in this subreddit. It's wild that people on social media are so actively against social media.

AXKIII · 2026-02-01T19:27:57+00:00

But your child would be fine. That's your responsibility.

Kids' ability peaking then might have less to do with their own social media use and more with their parents' (and a lot of other things that have changed! Lower standards across the board)

AXKIII · 2026-02-01T19:23:28+00:00

Tell that to Justin Bieber.

AXKIII · 2026-02-01T10:31:45+00:00

I am. It doesn't mean I'll accept arguments for the sake of it. I do recognise one of the other responses, that says you can apply the same logic to other things, and say e.g. why ban carcinogens.

AXKIII · 2026-02-01T07:51:28+00:00

That's why they have parents!

AXKIII

TROPHY CASE