[Web4lib] Re: Social spaces and Networking for College Students

[Meredith Farkas]

Yeah, I really don't buy the whole "social spaces are for people who can't
hack it in the real world" thing.  If that were the case, then probably 90%
or more of college students have underdeveloped social skills, since almost
all of them are using Facebook or MySpace these days.  There are quite a few
libraries on Facebook (if you get an account, just do a global search for
"library" and you'll find a ton of academic libraries on there).  I don't
think there are many on MySpace though.  The Thomas Ford Memorial Library is
the only one I know of.  Facebook is kind of neat because each school has
its own separate version of it and you can't look at profiles of people from
outside of your school.  It creates more of a "local academic community"
which is probably why libraries are more a part of Facebook than MySpace.
People might bump into their library on Facebook, but how many people are
going to actively be searching for their library (which is probably what it
would take to find it in MySpace)?

I think it's an interesting idea for libraries to "be where our patrons
are", but sometimes I wonder if students actually want us there.  These are
spaces where students can really be themselves, and I seriously doubt that
they want teachers or librarians on there.  It's a space where they can
complain about their teachers and librarians!  I've seen things on my
school's version of Facebook that would get students into a lot of trouble
if administrators bothered to look online. And while it is unrealistic of
them to think that what they write in Facebook is private (since anyone with
a valid .edu address can register for their school) students might see
librarians at their school on Facebook as an invasion of their privacy.

Libraries going where their patrons are is a popular idea, but we need to
make sure that we're not going somewhere we're not welcome.

Meredith

Meredith Gorran Farkas
Distance Learning Librarian
Norwich University
Northfield, VT 05663
802-485-2163
mfarkas at norwich.edu

Blog: Information Wants To Be Free
http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/
 Wiki: Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
http://www.libsuccess.org/



On 1/14/06, Athena Hoeppner <athena at mail.ucf.edu> wrote:
>
> LiveJournal is fairly popular.
>
> I think that the assumption that social spaces on the internet are the
> domain of students with underdeveloped social skills is questionable.  If it
> was true at one time, I don't think it's true anymore.
>
> Athena
>
> Athena Hoeppner
> Electronic Resources Librarian
> athena at mail.ucf.edu    (407)823-5049
>
>
> >>> "V. Chris & Tom Tinney, Sr." < vctinney at dcn.org> 13/Jan/06 12:50 >>>
> ***some text deleted***
>
> DioGuardi notes that students perceive the Internet
> as 'an attractive alternative to the real-world.'
> In addition, students who have underdeveloped
> social skills, who experience loneliness and who
> are especially introverted are more likely to use
> the Internet as a social outlet."
> http://www.scc.losrios.edu/express/051103myspace.html
>
> Respectfully yours,
>
> Tom Tinney, Sr.
>
>
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