So what’s the big deal with MySpace and Facebook? Isn’t that just a site where teenagers and college students post a bunch of vulgar pictures of themselves? Besides, if it is for students, why should I be concerned about it? Whatever happened to face-to-face communication?
Social networking services are web-based communities that allow individuals to join, develop a profile, and participate by connecting with friends, colleagues, students, professionals, or any special interest group. Social networking is not just for high school and college students. These services provide numerous opportunities for personal networking and serve as a venue for developing professional relationships, discovering potential employees and job opportunities, and increasing and improving the image of yourself and the library. Libraries should be concerned about social networks because that is where our users are hanging out.
Who uses social networking services? You can find your favorite jazz singer, gospel recording artist, classmates, librarian groups, library associations, academic and public libraries, professionals and more.
Still confused? Check out this video from the team at Common Craft. They do an excellent job of making complicated topics easy to understand. It takes a while for this file to download. You might want to turn the volume down or off until the entire video is downloaded. Then crank the sound back up and watch the video.
Social Networking Sites
Introduced in 2004, Facebook was initially designed to be used exclusively by those associated with colleges and universities. However, Facebook has expanded its registration requirements to allow anyone to join the community. MySpace began in 2003 and is popular among teenagers and young adults. However, forty percent of its users are thirty-five years of age or older. Both services have experienced phenomenal growth and indicate over one hundred million users have registered with their service.
If you cannot find a community to join, you can always create your own. Give Ning a try. Ning, launched in 2004, allows users to design their own group by customizing a variety of tools (widgets, facebook integration, slideshow galleries, video sharing, event listings, upload logo, discussion forum, etc.). So whether it’s, scrapbooking, sports, or whatever interests you, you can still get connected with others who share similar interests. The free version of Ning will display ads on your social network. LinkedIn started in 2003 and is strictly for business. Designed for professionals working in a variety of industries, LinkedIn has over 30 million users.
There are numerous social networking services. Though they may differ slightly, all are designed to be your one stop shop for communication, replacing the need to use individual services (i.e., chat, email, blog, instant messaging, video and picture sharing). You can get started in only a few minutes. Just sign up for a free account, create your profile, use available applications to customize your start page, browse profiles of other people, add friends to your profile, find others with similar interests and join a group. Thus, the endless chain of communication and connection begins.
Readings
Social Networking Services. (2007, September). Library Technology Reports, Retrieved October 16, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.
7 Things You Should Know About . . . Facebook II. (2007, May). Retrieved October 16, 2008, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7025.pdf.
7 Things You Should Know About . . . Ning. (2008, April). Retrieved October 16, 2008, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7036.pdf.
LibrarianInBlack: Ten Social Networking Tips for Libraries. Retrieved November 6, 2008 from http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2008/07/ten-social-netw.html.
Examples
Note: An account is not required to search and view profiles on MySpace or Ning.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Morris Library
University of Texas at Austin Libraries
University at Buffalo Libraries (requires login to facebook)
University of Michigan: Harlen Hatcher Graduate Library (requires login to facebook)
Activity #1
Are you ready to get connected?
- Sign up for a free account with Facebook, MySpace, Ning, or LinkedIn. Create a profile. Share as much or as little information as you desire. Remember, you can always suspend or delete your account after this activity.
- Search for and examine some of the libraries that have a presence in Facebook or MySpace. Browse around and see what else you can find. Create a blog post to share what you liked or disliked about the library pages you discovered.
- How can individuals and libraries benefit from using social networking services? Create a blog post to share your thoughts and ideas about the social networking service you explored. Remember to answer all the questions and include a link to your profile address.
