I have been a member of Facebook and Linked In for a number of years. I have not gotten involved with Twitter (my brother likes to say, "Twitter is like FB without the fun parts".) As someone who is not involved in the business world, I have to admit I don't find Linked In overly useful for my life. Facebook on the other hand is something I use almost daily.
Facebook has reconnected me to so many old friends and that has been wonderful. I have also learned about a lot of local and world news first from people's posts on FB. (I then go to the traditonal news outlets to learn more). In addition, I like having quick connections to a number of businesses I use regularly. For example, X's to O's Vegan Bakery in Troy posts their list of what items are available that day, letting me know if I want to take a trip over or not. I do have to say, however, that Facebook can become very addicting. I was finding myself spending way too much time looking at posts and playing games on it. I now limit my time at the site or will make myself go cold turkey for a few days at a time to avoid falling into that trap again.
There are some things that worry me about social networking sites. I feel that a number of people don't understand that some things in their life are private and don't need to be shared with the world. For example, I don't want to read about some of my friends fights with their spouses (some of these get way too personal and actually make me very uncomfortable). I find my younger relatives will post mean things about people and think nothing about it. Many people also can't deal with people politely disagreeing with their posts and then WWIII breaks out.
I also have a comment on the Social Media Revolution 2 video we watched as part of this week's course. One of the quotes read, "96% of millenials have joined a social network". This comment makes no sense. That would imply that 100% of millenials have access to a computer and are online. I don't believe there is even a town in the U.S. where 100% of the people use a computer. This quote then made me question every other statistic given in the video.
As far as libraries go, I can greatly see the use of social networking tools. Having a FB page lets patrons know more about the programs, hours, and services at the library. A library could post How To instructions or videos on the page. I like the idea of using one to share book suggestions. As a school librarian, I am bound by school rules, so I do not presently have a library page for my workplace. Maybe one day...
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