Week 3 Exercise

Assignment for MLA Web 2.0 CE class

Week 3: Social Networking Tools. Blog about your impressions and experiences with social networking. You may want to consider some or all of the following questions.
How can social networking be used by MLA to connect members
Should your library have a Facebook or MySpace page?
Are there privacy concerns for individuals when using social networking sites.
What did you like or not like about your experience with Facebook or MySpace.

This was a very interesting and eye-opening exercise for me. I can see how these technologies are useful for connecting people, both professionally and personally. I'm glad MLA is exploring how best to use them to connect the membership.

I don't see the need at this time to create a Facebook or MySpace page for my library. Our patrons are primarily boomers and seniors. But I'm not saying "never!"

There are definitely privacy concerns with social networking sites. I think it's less of a concern for a library site, but much more of a concern personally. We just have to be aware of what we're posting online and remember that just about anyone can see it.

I found my experience with Facebook a little frustrating, but I guess that's true of all new things when we first try them out. I can see how it's a fun way to (re)connect with colleagues and friends. It was interesting to look at the MySpace pages from other libraries. I think it's great that libraries are making the effort to connect with younger users where they are.