Wrapping up with Social Networking

Social Networking they say, is where people are linked with other people through specific groups. This is most popular now through on-line websites such as Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Hi5 etc. I was checking out the map from LeMonde showing the spread of popularity of social networking around the world. Australia is heavy on Myspace while the Asia Pacific dominates Friendster and Cyworld. South America is heavy on Orkut, while North America and Canada is for MySpace and Facebook. Europe has a balanced use of Bebo, Myspace, Skyblog and Facebook. The African Continent has the lowest use of social networking.

I also checked the American Library Association's and the British Library MySpace accounts and the Bebo of Rotorua Public Library. They are all very diverse with blog entries, videos. music, films, books, television, blurbs, forums, groups and so on. All this enables a wide social interaction for marketing and promotion.

A different kind of networking was the Communities of Practice website as it goes on to support professional networking between local government and the public sector. Current topics such as greenhouse, workforce, health issues etc. are addressed and members could connect with their own peers or experts through forums to share their knowledge and expertise with others.

Another site that was of interest was the East Renfrewshire Council in Scotland that promotes its services through Facebook. They are trying to promote their library services and leisure centres by inviting the community to leave comments, join discussion groups and forums via Facebook.

Checking out ALIA's Beyond the Hype symposium on web 2.0, they were trying to discuss the usefulness of web technologies to incorporate them into libraries. The site had links to web technologies, where members could try out the networking features and join in the discussions on-line.

Considering all these possibilities we can see that social networking plays a huge role, not only in our personal lives but also in our work environment. If we take 'libraries' which are all about 'communities' we can consider different ways of making libraries connect with communities in a big way. Since more and more people are into social networking, if we promote our library service through a social networking website, we are sure to attract a larger audience. This audience then grows, as their friends are added onto the network. Therefore, people accessing our libraries on-line will further grow. Through this on-line interaction, our libraries become more approachable to the community. We can promote our library collections, special events and other activities. We can invite people to join our library network - friends of the library! They can discuss books, films, programs, services etc. These are all promotional strategies for libraries. However, there is the downside to all this, as much as all the favourable opinions about your library, there will also be the negative criticism.

Seb Chan's findings on social networking to market libraries was quite refreshing. As the article suggests, by listening to your customers you know what they want. By talking with them you can promote your services and by identifying keen customers, you can promote via them for others to use our libraries. Customers then can support each other and support the library at the same time, by participating in discussions, forums via the social networking sites. The development of the library can then happen on these lines, as customers are turned into a resource for improvement and advancement of the library.

Second Life is more of an advanced version of on-line social networking. This 3D virtual world is new to me and after doing some reading on it I understand that libraries can be on Second Life! From what I gathered, you can have your own digital creation of your library on Second Life. This 3D "brought to life" effect can promote your library services, staff your Enquiries desk or even have your library catalogue. One could create virtual displays for promotion or even make use of your library photos. You could even create a meeting place for your library patrons who are interested in this virtual world.

I have finally reached the end of this program. It has been a rich learning experience for me. Each week has been rewarding and I had fun doing the various discovery and explore segments. In some, I managed the Adventure too, but was running short of time at the end. Thank you again to the nswpln team for putting together a fantastic piece of learning!