Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Method 8

Method 8

I started off looking at the Facebook and MySpace pages of the Library of Congress. The Facebook page was informative in that it included information about several events that the LOC was sponsoring. Also, there were some links to some interesting Flickr photos. The LOC MySpace page had very little to offer. The Texas Tech MySpace and Facebook pages both had interesting and useful information and links on their respective sites.

I have never sent out a twitter message, but in looking at some of the sites that distribute twitter messages, I can see how they can be used to reach people that don't normally use the library. Also, to reach library users to help make them aware of certain library events, or new books, or programs, etc. In some of the material that I have looked at, someone made the comment that keeping a Twitter page current and interesting could take a lot of time. If it is not being updated, library patrons and other people will stop visiting that library's Twitter page. Operating a Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook page is definitely something that needs to constantly be updated and kept current and relevant, in order to keep people coming back. One thing that I noticed is that several of the sites, whether Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace kept material on their pages long after it was no longer relevent and current. I don't know how easy it is to remove messages, but I would think that should be part of the process in running this type of Social Network.

I have decided not to create a MySpace or Facebook page at this time, but I realize that in order to really understand how a Social Network works, I may have to sign up for one or the other or both, in order to better understand how they work. I don't know if I would worry about privacy or not. Probably not too much, but I wouldn't really know until I had a Facebook or MySpace account. Our library has a MySpace page, but not a lot of information is on there. Several of the links to other information do not work. There have been a lot of changes here at the Amarillo Public Library with some staff reorganization and an extensive remodeling project, which may explain why the MySpace page isn't being used to its full potential yet, but I suspect that in time, it will become a more useful and interesting site.

No comments:

Post a Comment