Just paying a (an anti) social visit...?

Hmmm ...the social network neighbourhood is not a place that I would normally stopover personally.

Use of it by some of my family has made me well acquainted with its attractions. My nieces are sociable beings in both the real world and the online community. Others have sprouted its virtues for keeping up with the friends (new and old) and I know more than a few people who use it to keep up with exes! At this point I'd rather visit occasionally. Letting it all hang out is not for me.

Nevertheless, in the past fortnight in my sojourn to libraries' use of the social networking facilities, I can see some advantages. Seeing the virtual village is expanding, libraries can benefit from not only having a presence in this online world but actively reaching out to its members.

On the road, I stopped by many social network forays made by public libraries and discovered some interesting bridges and intersections. The use of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to promote events and services to entice, encourage and excite like an online grapevine was fascinating. I especially like Twitter's short but sweet tweets.

Seeing libraries being hospitable hosts using social networking to provide videoposts and podcasts as a kinda online tour of their services was great fun. I witnessed other interesting uses. I loved the online book clubs in this environment where like-minded and opinionated alike could express and exchange. Also did some "drive bys" of other special interest networking, for example, genealogists and crafters. I found lots of libraries creating great teen-directed networks.

What caught my eye were some readers' advisory venues on these sites. Often this is an overlooked aspect of library services and I see this being a potentially great element to use.

I accept that in this ever expanding online 24/7 world, libraries should be making virtual connections. Facebook (and the like) has its place but I feel the value of face to face should be upheld. Our energies should be directed at making and keeping "friends", "fans", "followers" in the real world and the virtual world.