Is Amazon Becoming the Facebook of Books?

E-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN 0.81%) recently bought Goodreads, the seventh-largest social network on the web today, thereby bringing the total number of Amazon's social media efforts around books to a total of three. So are these signs that Amazon may soon build out a bigger social networking effort to transform itself into a Facebook (META 2.33%) of books? 

Not likely.

Fool contributor Kevin Chen thinks that social media networks thrive on hype. Modelez International-owned Oreo best understood that as it demonstrated social media prowess on Twitter during the Superbowl blackout. Unfortunately for Amazon and Goodreads, books are meant to be long and engrossing.

So if it's not possible for Amazon to become the next Facebook, what is the e-commerce giant trying to do? Well, in the video below, Kevin discusses how Amazon is really mimicking Google (GOOGL 0.37%). Just as some Googlers like to say that Google Plus is a "social layer," so, too, will Amazon and its Goodreads acquisition add a social layer to book recommendations.

To learn more on what Amazon has in store for Goodreads, watch the video below.