October 11, 2006 11:00 ET

Shelfari Launches World's First Social Media Site for Books

New Social Media Site Revolutionizes How Consumers Discover and Discuss Books

SEATTLE, WA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- October 11, 2006 -- Shelfari (www.shelfari.com), the world's first social media site dedicated to books, today announced that it has opened its doors to book lovers everywhere. In the same way that Flickr transformed digital photos, Digg transformed news discovery, and YouTube transformed online video, Shelfari transforms the discovery of and social interaction around books. Shelfari's intuitive interface enables users to instantly find and add titles to their personal bookshelf, connect with friends, browse other users' bookshelves, and influence others by recommending books and engaging in book discussions.

"People love to talk about books with friends and like minded individuals, but it is close to impossible today to have a discussion about books unless you are in the same room with them," said Josh Hug, Shelfari's President. "Shelfari brings back the social side of books, allowing friends to discuss and discover great books even when separated by thousands of miles. Not only can you reunite with old friends, but you can begin to discuss and discover books with new people who share your tastes."

Shelfari offers its community (known as "Shelfarians") a set of simple and elegant features, including:

--  Personalized Book Shelves - Shelfarians can quickly create personal
    bookshelves filled with books they own, read, or can't wait to read.
    Because your virtual bookshelf has the same look and feel of a real
    bookshelf, Shelfarians can visually peruse each other's library and see
    what books they have in common.
--  Social Interaction - Every book on your shelf has a simple indicator
    of how many friends also have that book and whether people are discussing
    it.  These indicators make it easy for Shelfarians to find and engage in
    stimulating conversations around the books they are passionate about.
--  Book Discovery - Shelfari makes it incredibly simple to recommend
    books because the most valuable book recommendations come from your friends
    and people you trust.  Great recommendations can also come from people with
    similar book collections, so Shelfari highlights these users and directs
    you to their shelves where you can discover what you have in common and
    books you might enjoy.
--  Intuitive Tagging - Shelfari's tagging scheme providing Shelfarians
    with flexible options to sort and organize their entire book collection.
    

Shelfari was founded by three technology veterans who have deep experience creating amazing consumer products and are passionate about books. Josh Hug, the company's President, was most recently the Director of Devices at RealNetworks. Josh was instrumental in developing the vision for the Rhapsody DNA platform and building a team to deliver that vision. Kevin Beukelman, the company's Chief Architect, most recently served as designer and engineer for a music customization platform with RealNetworks. Kevin previously was a consultant with Accenture in the Communications and High Tech practice, spending most of his time with Microsoft. Mark Williamson is a co-founder of Shelfari and currently sits on the company's board of directors. Mark currently works for Dash Navigation and was formerly the Director of Product Management and Marketing within RealNetwork's music division.

About Shelfari

Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Shelfari is creating the world's first social media site focused on books. A powerful yet simple interface enables Shelfari users ("Shelfarians") to build virtual bookshelves and socially interact around the books they care about. The company was founded by three technology veterans from RealNetworks who believe that people want to discuss and discover great books online. Shelfari can be found by visiting www.shelfari.com.