It seems to me that Facebook conjures up the same reaction in people as Marmite - they either love it or hate it! I took a little convincing to sign up at first but I'm glad I did because it has meant I have been able to stay in easy contact with friends all over the world and reconnect with people that I haven't seen for years. Yes, there are privacy concerns and it is all too easy to become a Facebook stalker but overall I think it's a great social platform.
So how can libraries use Facebook to their advantage? Firstly, the fact that so many library users are on Facebook already is a huge bonus. Going into the library users' territory and capitalising on their familiarity with and partiality to Facebook makes venturing out into the world of social networking that much easier. You only have to convince existing Facebook users to become your Fan or join your group, which won't require too much effort on their part and then you're all set!
Another reason why I think Facebook is a great tool for libraries to use is that it's so easy to set up and, of course, it's free! A library can display all the essential information like opening & closing times, useful links eg. to the catalogue, relevant events that are going on and import the RSS feed of their blog to keep users easily and quickly updated (especially useful for library closure in times of bad weather). Also users can interact with their library by replying to a wall post or sending a private message.
Some people will say that what you can do on Facebook, you can do on a blog so why bother but I think that the fact that a great deal of users already regularly spend a lot of time logged onto Facebook makes a huge difference because the library will effectively come to them instead of them having to actively seek out the library's blog. Of course there will always be people who are resistant to things like Facebook but that's ok. Facebook can and should (if appropriate) be used as an alternative tool for libraries to connect with their users but I don't think it should be used instead of the traditional website or good old fashioned face-to-face service!
LinkedIn has a very different feel about it to Facebook and, although I can see its purpose and can recognise its value in connecting professionals, I haven't been won over by it yet... I know it has to be formal because of its professional function but personally I found it much harder to navigate than Facebook and there's just too much to take in, what with job credits, network statistics etc. etc. Also, I just don't know who to connect with! Maybe in the future as my career progresses I'll appreciate it and use it a lot but for now, as a humble library assistant I think I'll stick to Facebook!
No comments:
Post a Comment