Social Networking- Week 8

Let me preface my blog entry today to explain that I am an avid MySpace and other social networking site user. (I even tried relationship sites like eHarmony.com and Yahoo!Personals but found NO matches...what a bummer!! Ah, well!)

Add me to your MySpace friends if you want: www.myspace.com/amandabrewer

Questions to consider this week:
1. Which of the social networking sites appealed to you most? Why?
MySpace appeals to me most because I've been using it for a while now. I also like it because most of my friends have their own "spaces" and we connect through the site through messages, comments, and picture sharing.

I like our BCL MySpace page and would think a staff photos album, pictures from programs(with permission to use) album, plus a video or two describing how to use the library or something similar could be cool, too. Can our Instant Message widgets be placed on the site too?? That would be great!

2. Can you see yourself using these sites? Which one?
I'm not a personal fan of Facebook but that could be only because I know it started out as a high school age site. For me and my circle of influence, MySpace trumps them. It would be great to have a social networking managing site like Meebo is for IM. That way I could manage pages in all of these sites and not have to give up any extra time.

Ning was okay, but I didn't find it too helpful in any of the group searches I was looking for. I doubt I will use it again...neat concept, though.

I like Bebo simply because it places a prominent place for authors!


3. Can you see a use for these in libraries?
I definitely think libraries should utilize these sites. I'm sure there is much argument as to which site would be best. For libraries in the U.S., I would think
MySpace and Facebook would be the top choices.

4. Why do you think these sites are so popular, particularly among teens?
By nature teens are social people. A sociology professor once told my class, "teenagers can be classified as social beings--everything they do, enjoy, and crave is social!" These websites are social--they allow users to talk, share, comment on their friends pages, keep track of their favorite celebrities (and even be added to their friends list)....It feeds their very nature! (and if we admit it, ours too!)