I guess I'm one of those 'uncultured swine', but I'm not sure I got what Shelfari is all about until I really got into listing the books I read and seeing what my friends read. I got that they are making a community of book readers where thoughts and feelings can be shared. But, I really thought 'so what?' But, now I use Shelfari as a great resource when I am doing spy work on people I am trying to establish a relationship with - professionally or personally. I know that if they're on Shelfari I can find out 2 things: (1) they care enough about reading to be on Shelfari; and (2) I can know what piques their interest and use it in conversation or for book genres to gift them. I am now getting Shelfari and I love it!