Item 10: Social Networks - General Introduction

This item will give you a general introduction to social networking.

Social networking sites are websites that offer connections between users based on shared interests, backgrounds, and other associations. In most cases you have to create a profile to fully participate - these note basic details about yourself (screen name, etc.) and offer an opportunity to get more detailed (more about you - your favorite music, your background, photos of yourself, etc). It's truly a mix - some users keep it simple whilst others go all out, detailing their interests, their hopes and their dreams. And are some users less than honest than others in their self-assessments? Absolutely...

Friends, Connections

What really makes these sites tick is the connection between users. This is very similar to the connecting concept behind Flickr tags - you can find people based on shared interests and traits. But there's more - you also get to approach other users and invite them to declare an association with you. Some sites call your associations 'friends,' others call them 'contacts.'

Danah Boyd, a social networking pundit, puts it this way (you should only read her linked article if you've got some time on your hands - it is long...):

“Are you my friend? Yes or no?” This question, while fundamentally odd, is a key component of social network sites. Participants must select who on the system they deem to be ‘Friends.’ Their choice is publicly displayed for all to see and becomes the backbone for networked participation.

So, participants publicly identify their 'friends.' That's something new, fair enough. But the backbone for networked participation?

Imagine this scenario:

Herman gets home from school on friday night and has no idea what he's going to do for the weekend. He logs into his MySpace profile and sees that more than 20 of his MySpace friends are also logged in. Instead of reaching for his phone, he writes up a short posting on his bulletin board ("hey - is anything going on tonight?") and clicks send - this goes to everyone on his friends list. Within a minute, 4 of his MySpace friends have added 'comments' to his profile with invitations to join them.

And let's take a few steps back - imagine how much easier it becomes to stay in touch with friends you'd typically lose touch with. From high school? College? Three jobs ago? Do you see the value here?

Why should any of this matter to libraries?

Our patrons, the younger ones in particular, are using MySpace like we use the telephone for communication. If we're on MySpace and other social networking sites we'll be there when they need us.


Popular Social Networking Sites

The first was Friendster, way back in 2003. Friendster developed a small following (and its still in use) but never caught on widely. The big problem was their restrictive participation policy - it was limited to individuals.

Next came MySpace which, for all intents and purposes, copied the best parts of Friendster and then upped the ante - they opened participation to non-individuals. Bands, clubs, community groups and, yes, even libraries were encouraged to create profiles that would improve the richness of the MySpace online community. And that was key - with the inclusion of these group entities, MySpace became a real life community where users logged in to do more than just connect with their friends. To this day MySpace remains the most popular social networking site out there.

But, of course, there's an increasingly popular competitor out there - Facebook. Facebook started as a college-oriented network but has since opened its doors to everyone else. And it's catching on - there are many stories from teens who have left MySpace because it's gotten "too popular" and have moved to FaceBook.

But why should libraries care?

It's all about relevance. Libraries need to be where our patrons are. If a library has a presence on MySpace or Facebook they have a better chance of finding patrons who don't often come into their buildings or go to their websites (especially teens) and promoting their fabulous services. And FVRL is getting there - we have a profile for YAAB on MySpace, and some branches are starting to create profiles for their branch YAAB groups.

And it's not just FVRL - look at this list of libraries on MySpace from the Library Success Wiki.

Activities:

1. Watch the Social Networking in Plain English video
   
2. Read some of the articles linked below (we're being vague here on purpose - try to read at least one from each category - most of these are fairly short blog postings).
   
3. What do you think about libraries taking part in social networking sites? Create a blog posting with your thoughts on this or something else related to social networking.

MySpace

• Libraryman w/ a great answer to 'why?'

• David Lee King writes about libraries on Myspace

• Librarian In Black polls librarians - read the comments...

• Stephen Abram writes about the library context (this one is longer)

Facebook

• It's really popular: Facebook's Astounding Stats

• The Other Librarian writes about Facebook and Rapport