I resisted the urge to jump on the myspace bandwagon for *quite* some time. I'm not young enough to consider myself a "millenial" and I'm more and more aware of that as I encounter new technologies. (I mean, I don't want to talk to people I don't know! And if I DID, I wouldn't do it online!) I guess I was kind of confused about the lure and purpose of social networking. I was also concerned about my privacy. I made excuses and worried about stalkers and ex-boyfriends and random people accessing my personal information.....and then I took the plunge. A year later, myspace is part of my regular online routine. It has been interesting to watch the growth of myspace and I'm still not sure that I understand the "why" of it all, but there is no denying that it is a major information hub and a powerful tool for libraries to communicate with the public. I also think it is the most user-friendly of the selected sites we are reviewing. Creating my profile page was the most difficult part of the learning curve. Now that I've got the hang of it, it is also my favorite part. I like changing my layout and my song to reflect my mood or interests. Acquiring "friends" is kind of stressful though. It makes me feel like I'm in middle school or something--- "do you like me? check yes or no" but my circle of friends has grown nicely. I enjoy being able to keep in touch with friends from a distance and have even reconnected with friends and co-workers from back in the day. It is a really convenient way to keep up with what is going on in everybody else's world. I also make a lot of musical discoveries on myspace, keep up with several libraries, and regularly surf for interesting children's and young adult authors.
I think libraries can benefit from myspace by capitalizing on its interactive features and using it to market to and communicate with our patrons. The bulletin feature is a great way to let our patrons know about programs and special events while the blogging tool could be used for book reviews and discussions. I've even seen some library sites that connect to the catalog and allow some one to reserve a reccomended book directly from myspace. The possibilities really are endless!
Once I cut my teeth on myspace I ventured on to other networking sites but was not as impressed. I've had a facebook account for a couple of weeks now but I'm not really into it. I don't understand all the poking and virtual gift-giving and what not. It seems like a big waste of time to me. And I can't express myself through pretty colors and song! (I prefer the chaos of myspace to the "cleaner" look of facebook.) I browsed around some of the other sites like Bebo and Friendster and was equally unimpressed. In my opinion, myspace has a much broader reach and offers tools more suited to a library's needs.
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