It is interesting how technology changes, how it improves and how it gains momentum, or “gets legs” as some say. This month, we are going to look at three applications that aren’t really new, but seem to have grown legs within the last six months. Matter of fact, I previously researched all of these for Learn 2.0, but passed on because, well, at the time, they were boring! Ah yes….I can hear you say it right now…..let me just say that I have a computer, not a crystal ball!!! Who knew???
Facebook – Facebook (FB) is the hot social networking site right now, knocking My Space off the top of the hill. FB seems a little different than My Space, mainly because there seems to be fewer kids! The NY Times reported, “According to the site Insidefacebook.com, the median age of a Facebook user is 26, but the fastest-growing user group is women 55 and over, up more than 175 percent since last fall. Men 55 and over are right behind, having increased almost 138 percent during the same time period.” (link to article)
FB is growing at the rate of a 1,000,000 new users a day! If you aren’t on it, or haven’t seen it, there is a strong chance that a patron or co-worker near you is on – right now! For me, I have “found” several friends that I have lost touch with over the years – the guy that sat behind me in physics in HS, back in ’83…two co-workers from my job in Charlotte, at least three people that were former students of mine (they are now in their 30’s which I did not need to know). I posted a status update on FB as I was writing this module. A friend that I met in Jamaica a few years ago, responded with this link from her local paper in Vermont : Friends with Benefits . Is this Facebook imitating life or Life imitating FB????
Here is a link to Wikipedia’s entry on Facebook. It is a tad lengthy, but gives a pretty good background. Read until you are full.
OCLS has two Fan Pages on Facebook. A fan page is a space where fans can gather for information about the object of their fandom! We have the general OCLS page and a Club Central page for teens. On these pages, our fans can find out about programming, special events, locations, hours and how to get a card. Good stuff!
Twitter –Twitter is almost a micro application when compared to Facebook. Twitter’s purpose is to let you share your thoughts or activities in 140 characters or less. This keeps the information down to very small bites! Twitter can be used to tell the world that you just ate a second donut or that a gunman just invaded the The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, India. It can be used to organize government protests in Moldova, to tell your friends that you watched Star Wars for the 100th time or used to post a local update concerning Swine Flu in your area. Frivolous or Serious, it is all in the hands (and minds) of the tweeter.
So you are thinking that there are many billions of people on this planet if if just half of them are posting 140 character messages – that just might be information overload. You would be correct! Twitter has a capability that allows users to follow a specific user. If you are a fan of anyone that uses Twitter you can follow their specific posts(or Tweets as it is called) and read their tweets. You can also use the settings to control who reads your mind and tweets.
OCLS has five different Twitter accounts for the library.
@Oclslibrary – general and main Lib.
@Oclscomrel – all things Com-Rel related
@Oclsteen – all things teen related
@Oclsnorth – the north branches including Edgewater, Eatonville, and North Orange
@oclscitizenship – for the citizenship inspired program
Lynette Schimpf has led the Lib’s use of Twitter to actively promote the library and to develop relationships with our customers. She says, “I have been able to communicate with customers in a way that is new and relevant to today’s communication methods. We have been able to promote numerous programs, events, classes and share information.” For example: “ I have sent a link to our locations page for someone who posted that they wanted to know where the nearest library was. I sent how to sign up for a card information to someone who posted about being interested in a library card, I have thanked numerous people for using the Orange County Library System when I find that they have mentioned us.”
LinkedIn –LinkedIn is the professional networking version of Facebook. I know from reading many of your blogs that you may not be comfortable sharing your personal stuff with the whole wide planet. I get that, this article may help you see another perspective. Even if you are someone that likes to keep yourself to yourself, you may want to consider Linked In for your professional career. A quick search of the people using the term “library” returned 136,928 people that work or have worked in a library. On the first two pages of results, I saw people from Sydney, Australia, San Francisco, Phoenix, Louisville, St. Louis, Houston, Tennessee, and Boston. A search of groups using the same term returned groups focused on reference, state library associations, academic libraries, library support groups – “friends of..” and international library groups. I think you could find someone to connect to!
Like Facebook and Twitter, you can post your brief random thoughts or activities. Also, like Facebook, you can reach out and connect to people that share your professional interests via email or third person introductions.
Explorers: Joining a social networking sight is a personal decision. If you are interested, use one of the links above to create an account. Twitter is probably the easiest and fastest to get going on. Facebook will probably be the most personally satisfying and Linked In is a good move professionally. As all of these sites exist now, I can’t send you there to “browse” because you need an account to get in. Soo…. lets talk a little bit about why or how these social tools could be beneficial to the Library. In your blog, tell us what you think – are these tools for connecting to the public or not? Can you think of ways to use any one of them in your department or location? How about personally? Is this something you are doing or something that you have an interest in doing?
Adventurers: If you are an Adventurer, then you already have a FB account and most probably Twitter and Linked In too. If not, now is the time to join. There are LOTS of OCLS folks on FB and Linked In, so you will find friends almost immediately. Your Adventure challenge is to join one of the OCLS groups on FB. From a PR perspective – tell three people about our Twitter streams – tell them that they can follow us.
Collaboration is a founding principle of Web 2.0, and something that we love in Learn 2.x. With that in mind, a big Thank You to Lynette Schimpf for her Twitter contributions! Mahalo Lynette, the Twitter Queen!~
Also, a big Thank You to Liz Kelly in Milton, Vermont for sharing the FB article with us!
