The World of Facebook and MySpace

1.  Do you think libraries should be building presence and providing services in MySpace and/or Facebook?  Why or why not?

            I do believe that libraries should be building a presence and providing a service on MySpace and/or Facebook.  I would personally suggest using Facebook over MySpace because MySpace seems to be a thing of the past.  When you listen to people talk about what is going on in the world, they tend to say they learned the information from Facebook not from MySpace.  The reason behind having a presence on Facebook is that it has become a key communication device for people.  Of course, some people don’t have accounts on either of these sites, but the library will still reach many people.  I think that every library can benefit from having Facebook or MySpace as a social media communication tool.  The one problem that I do see is for school libraries.  Since there is an age requirement for joining these sites, some libraries may not be able to use these, but they can look for some other useful media tools to communicate with the students and parents.  Even with the age issue, I feel that school libraries and academic libraries will have the biggest following on these sites versus public libraries.  I feel this way because as stated in Reaching Students with Facebook: Data and Best Practices, “…it is an environment that students are already comfortable with” (page 4).  Since these types of libraries serve the computer generation more, they will see the biggest draw as long as they have a positive presence.  Having a positive presence and an active presence will be key in retaining patrons and for attracting new ones.  This does not mean that a public library cannot also benefit from having a Facebook page.  For the public library, a Facebook page may be a great tool to use to attract new patrons into using the library, such as, teenagers. 

            As you decide on what is in your libraries best interest, remember to think about: which social media tool will serve your library the best, who is your audience, who is going to maintain the site, how often is it going to be updated, what information are you going to be providing, etc.  Facebook and MySpace are great media tools to communicate with, but they have to be up to date and provide an environment that is the most beneficial to the majority of your patrons so as to create the best results.