#19 Social Networking

Ahh, the social networks. Being my age, you pretty much have to have a Myspace or facebook page, or you end up terribly left out of a lot things in your peer group. Actually, I was a little too old to get in the Myspace trend. When this all starting getting big I was just entering university, so it was more useful for me to join facebook, which at the time was university students only. I have lots more friends there than on myspace anyway, especially since it expanded so anyone could join, and all of my friends who went to schools in other countries or didn't go to university could join as well.

Also, I confess I have this snobby aversion to MySpace. I don't what it is, but something about everyone having the ability to put automatically starting music and any background on their pages makes for some hideous and ear-splitting combinations. I think 75% of MySpace users don't understand that no matter how cool their background pic is, it's more important for people to actually be able to read the text! Maybe they'll learn, eventually. That and there are always tons of people wanting to be your 'friend', who you've never even heard of. I guess I find it sort of creepy, and don't really care at all that I only have 13 friends. With the exception of a few comics and bands who I really wanted to support, I actually know all of my 'friends' personally.

Anyway, as to the question of libraries using MySpace...I think it's a nice try, but that the purpose of libraries doesn't really mesh well with the purpose of MySpace. I can understand the need to want to woo young patrons over, and convince them that cool stuff can be had at the library. I just don't know that MySpace is the way to do it. Just making a web page to share all the information, and making events they will actually be interested in, would probably be better plans than MySpace. I think most teenager's reactions to the library wanting an 'add' would just be rolling of the eyes.