Final (ha!) Thoughts

OK, so this is not the end of my social networking experience since I've been doing it for nearly two years and am not likely to stop now, but here are my reflections on the course questions for this week.

1) How can social networking be used by MLA to connect members?

Well, MLA could try for a lively Facebook presence (I will certainly try to look it up shortly!), have groups people could join, etc. I know there are also other, build-your-own networks like some we covered in the reading, so that might be a possibility, but there's also something to be said for working with an established site that people are already using.

2) Should your library have a Facebook or MySpace page?

I don't work in a library right now, so that's not a question I can answer. It will probably depend a lot on the library and the audience. If you serve a lot of younger people, maybe so!

3) Are there privacy concerns for individuals when using social networking sites?

Well, sure there are. I honestly do not believe that these concerns are unique to these sites, however. People who let their personal information 'hang out' face privacy risks, whether that's talking freely on a party line, strewing identifiable personal details all over a discussion forum, giving out a credit card number over an unsecured web connection, posting naked drunken photos on Facebook, or simply telling more than you should about your affairs over coffee to someone who likes to gossip. 

Technology makes it easy for information to spread far and fast, but people have always been able to give away too much about themselves, or to keep things private. Obviously it's important to educate kids about using the privacy options and being careful about what they share, but I don't find the privacy issues of social networking sites to be of a different caliber than those people have always faced: they're just formatted differently.

4) What did you like or not like about your experience with Facebook or MySpace?

I like being able to keep non-intrusive, casual track of what friends and classmates are doing. I may not always need to know, or care, that so and so is eating pizza, but sometimes someone might mention that they're feeling down, and I can send a quick hello. It's not deep communication, but it lets you maintain a connection.

As a distance education student, I have classmates I've met only once or twice, or not at all. We communicate via discussion forums and email, as well as in class, but social networking sites offer a less formal, more personal way to get to know a little something about someone.

As I said: it's not deep communication. It's fairly casual, and it's often silly, and I sometimes spend way too much time exchanging bits of code that make pointless gestures (like 'waving at' someone). 

But that doesn't mean it has no value. Know what it's good for and use it for that, or don't use it, if it's of no use in your particular circumstances, but don't assume that people who do use it are all just bonkers. (Although that may also be true.)

Here endeth my sermon.