Web 2.0 Training - Social Networking

I joined Myspace a few months after I first moved to Richmond. I had typed a long and rather humorous (in my own personal opinion) email that looked back at the movies I had seen in 2005. I was going to send it to the two people I used to discuss movies with in Blacksburg, and then for some crazy reason, I just decided to take that email I had written and turn it into a blog. I joined Myspace (I don't remember why I picked that particular site), copied and pasted my movie review into a blog post, and sent the link to a bunch of people. And I've continued to write about random things ever since, usually sports or music. I pretty much see it as a journal; I can write about a concert I attended, and then go back later to re-read and remember details from the show. Meanwhile, my friends can read about what I've been up to as well, and I can read about the things that are on their mind. I also like the music on Myspace; you can usually listen to at least three songs by any band on Myspace, which is great for discovering new music. Or in my brother's case, you can put your own music online for others to discover.

Over the past year or so, people have tried to get me to switch over to Facebook, but I think one social networking site is enough. I blame Facebook's popularity on Chris Hansen; because of him, the words 'Myspace' and 'child predator' have become forever linked. Facebook took advantage of Myspace's bad press and rose to the top, but I refuse to change...or maybe I am just too lazy to keep up with that many social networking sites. Or perhaps the problem is that I'm not lazy enough? Whatever the case, I think I'll just stick with Myspace. Maybe I'm just 'internet old-fashioned' - you know, I still use yahoo as my search engine instead of google!

It's becoming difficult to think of ways that the library can efficiently use all of this technology. We could use Facebook to post pictures...but we already learned about how Flickr can help with that. We could use Myspace so the librarians could write their latest thoughts...but we already talked about how sites like blogger can do the same thing. We could send messages about upcoming events on social networking sites...but then we could also just use Twitter for this purpose. I guess a better question is how the library can provide all of this information effectively without overloading our consumers. Should we be using every new feature that the internet has to offer, so patrons can follow us in the way that is most convenient for them? Or would this dilute the information that we have to offer? If one librarian is a 'tweeter' and another prefers podcasts, how will the patron know where to go? These are questions that need to be considered for the library to best utilize the many features of Web 2.0.

Meanwhile, in my continuing critique of our own personal weekly lesson, we were given the optional assignment of checking out Wikipedia's List Of Social Networking Sites. I must say, I think it's hilarious that the first site they list is Adult Friend Finder, which wikipedia describes as an 'online sex and swinger personals community website.' Thanks Wikipedia; these are the kinds of websites that give the internet a bad name, and by dignifying this site as legitimate, you are contributing to the internet's eventual demise. Surely Wikipedia, you could have found a better social networking site to place at the top of your alphabetical list. "Abba Fans Since '86" might appreciate the publicity, and their mission isn't sick and disturbing. Er...um...actually...you know, on second thought, maybe wikipedia got their list right the first time.