Week 10: Social Networking Online

Social Networking Online: The Hot Topics

As social networking sites are (arguably) the most well-known of the web 2.0 tools, we understandably had a wide spectrum of articles and topics this week. I tried to select a few articles that looked like they might touch on the most prevelant of concerns or issues about social networking online in order to be able to explore a wider variety and be able to think about the implications of a variety within a library environment.

Implications for relationships

In Crossing Boundaries: Identity Management and Student/Faculty Relationships on the Facebook, Anne Hewitt and Andrea Forte explore the ways that Facebook can allow students and teachers to relate to one another in a way that departs from the traditional. Though the bulk of the article was about whether students' opinions of professors were influenced by their presence on Facebook, I think the most interesting and useful finding was that many students valued this presence because it gave them a new way to interact with the professor and broaden their relationship by being more social (and I would assume in a less intimidating environment, where the sharply hierarchical teacher/student relatioship is more levelled, with a buffer in between bits of conversation). By extension, I think this article had a lot to say about how relationships can take on new dimensions when they occur within online social networking sites - we could even apply the ideas contained in the article to the patron/librarian relationship as it is not uncommon for patrons to feel intimidated by the librarians. Though I think it's probably a better use of such sites for librarians to create profiles for their library (not themselves, per se), I could definitely imagine patrons being more likely to initiate a 'conversation' with the librarian - be it a reference question or a recommendation for a new book to add to the library - via Facebook than in reality.

Privacy and Security Implications

The previous Hewitt and Forte article expressed some concerns students had about their privacy on Facebook and whether professors joining represents an invasion of that privacy (as they may have photos and/or details about themselves they would rather not have their professor see). To this point, I simply feel that the security features of Facebook and Myspace were built into the sites for a reason - so people can customze their profiles in such a way that no one can see anything you don't want them to. Though, I must agree, to novice users setting up the security can be a bit confusing. I think, in the end, the best advice to be given is to simply view social networking sites as 'Public Space.' The rule of thumb that should be stressed (and parents - even librarians- can make a point of incorporating this advice into what they tell kids about how to be careful when in public situations) is simply to not post anything you wouldn't want the world to see and definitely not to post personal details that could allow someone to find you geographically.

In the article by Wade Roush (The Moral Panic over Social-Networking Sites) we can see what happens if people panic about an issue such as this one - the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA). I have to agree with Roush that such legislation does more harm than good and is certainly avoiding the root of the problem. It isn't the social networking sites that are dangerous - they can be incredibly useful in many ways to those who know how to use them properly. As is the case with most modern issues, the answer is education: if kids know the dangers and know how to conduct themselves in online social situations (what information they can give and what information they should protect) then they will be able to benefit from social sites, too.

Libraries and Social Networking Sites

Use of social networking sites within a library environment is something I have seen a few libraries employ over the past few years. While I can understand some of the points of arguments against libraries joining the social networking world (e.g. it's just a fad, no one will actually use it, dangers of online environments for young users, etc.), I have to say I think they have the potential to have value for libraries and patrons, especially in cases where these sites are created for a specific group within the library and are meant to be used by that group. Like any other library program, I think it is very important to be able to think carefully about why you're creating a new service and then to ensure it will meets the needs of who you're creating it for - it is often the case that broadly launching anything without aiming it at a target audience will result in failure (or at the very least a much less successful result than hoped for). The same is true for a library social networking site; though creating a Facebook page for a library is a good idea in theory, if the librarians don't think about audience, they could end up with a sprawling page with too many features and functions that would, at best, be overwhelming to all but the most experienced Facebook users. Instead, libraries choosing to join the online social networking world should follow the example of the London Public Library - they have created a MySpace page specifically for their youth population called the Teen Annex. The site posts news, events, and information of interest to the teens and they have found the site is highly used, especially by the members of their Youth Advisory Committee. They currently have over 300 friends and, though I would argue a bit more discretion may need to be used when accepting new friends (I noticed a lot of wall posts were from people trying to sell books - though arguable they were YA books), I would say this is a good example of successfully implementing a social networking site for a library.

Case Study Examples:

Overall, I think library pages seem to work better on Myspace than Facebook (perhaps this is my own personal bias talking). The fact that features like a calendar can be added to Myspace make sense for a library (plus the sites just 'look nicer' to me because of the customization).

AADL - MySpace Branch
Ann Arbor District Library's page on MySpace: I really like this page. Looks nice and has a lot of useful information (upcoming events, links to the catalogue, interesting news in the blog, etc.). Though it's not aimed at a specific audience (as I advise above) I think it works. Plus the fact that they made their Friends display say that they have 300 billion friends is just funny.

My Own Cafe
Home-grown social network for teens built by the Southeast MA Regional Library System: This page is very interesting. I like that it has many of the features of other social networking sites (like latest events, news, and a message board) but I found it to be a bit visually confusing. Of course, this could be because I am a Myspace and Facebook user and any new format takes a bit of getting used to. Overall, seems like it would be really useful for their library patrons.

Just an aside, but I found it interesting that both of the Facebook examples (Hennepin County Library and Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County) chose to layout their pages very similarly....especially putting their sidebar (fans, photos, ask us chat, etc.) on the right instead of the left. Huh.

Thanks for reading!