shelfless

I’ve grown rather fond of social networking. The things that they can accomplish is quite impressive. The way sites like MySpace and Facebook have exploded you can’t deny their power and influence. FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted earlier this year that if it were a country it would be the 8th most populus in the world. In. The. World. 150 million denizens. At it’s current growth rate it could reach up to 300 million next year (Slate). That’s a whole lot of people. It makes you wonder. Where’s your library?

A lot of my personal experience with social networking has been directly related to my experience with virtual communities. I won’t rehash that here.

I joined the FaceBook Legion a few months back. Even in just such a short period of time I can see some of the challenges that can arise out of such a social Network. Do I add old friends? acquaintances? Co-workers? Bosses? My mother? In an environment where people generally have the freedom to post any sort of comments to your Wall, or attach your name/account to photos, as a user you really need to make choices about what you are going to use these networks for. I’ve struggled with that myself.

I’ve seen great benefits from some of these social networks. They’ve really changed a lot of my perspectives on ‘identity’ and ‘openness’ in the internet culture. Where I used to use the veil of pseudonym, the relationships and  interactions through these networks have really brought me to the front. Part of the benefit to everybody involved is the open. Through these networks, like FaceBook and Twitter I’ve built stronger relationships with people. With Twitter, I’ve reconnected with people I lost contact with  in a real-time way that makes the distance seem insignificant. I’ve also connected with classmates that otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to. I think these are awesome things.

So… Libraries. Putting your face, somehow, into these environments is absolutely necessary. I have to imagine that the 8th most populous country in the world needs some library interface. Not everybody needs to do what UIUC has done, but that would be pretty cool. Imagine as a user being to jump from your Facebook wall over to a library search. But even having a page that kept patrons up to date on events and activities in the library is a quick and easy way to meet the user where the user is. And, thanks to FB’s simple layout you don’t need to worry about making your mark that way, this means fast and easy implementation. Much easier than designing and updating your website, don’t you think?

(editorial note: the author does not necessarily support the notion of replacing your library website with a Facebook group…)