[Web4lib] Library Facebook profile shut down

[Richard Wiggins]

Hmmm.   Facebook's business model is to stir up interest among young people,
the demographic that advertisers covet the most -- and the one that is
tuning out of older media such as magazines, newspapers, etc.  This NPR
story explains why Yahoo wants to spend $1 billion to buy Facebook:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6117548

Without getting into the details of the terms of service, and with all due
respect, it seems to me that if Facebook says that the items to be profiled
on their service are to be human beings and only human beings, then it
clutters their space to use it to profile other kinds of things, whether
butterflies, jet planes, or libraries.  And there are plenty of Web
publishing and social networking alternatives.

/rich

On 9/22/06, Kraemer, Beth <kraemer at email.uky.edu> wrote:
>
> Hi - A colleague (Stacey Greenwell) and I developed a University of
> Kentucky Libraries presence on Facebook this summer.  Facebook recently
> disabled our account citing a violation of their Terms of Agreement
> which they say specifies that organizational profiles are not allowed.
> Profiles must be created for individuals only.  We are disputing this
> interpretation of the Facebook Terms. In the mean time, we are retaining
> our personal Facebook profiles in order to create a Facebook Group for
> the library, which was the solution recommended by Facebook.  Stacey has
> posted additional information in this SLA blog:
>
> <http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/itbloggingsection/2006/09/librarys_fac
> ebo.html>
>
> At the moment, several libraries around the country do have active
> Facebook profiles, but the implication is that more may be shut down in
> the coming months.  This at least represents a potential big waste of
> time for the librarians who maintain those profiles - the sites they
> have put time and effort into will be deleted.  We wanted to spread the
> word about this, but we are also still trying to talk with Facebook.
> Stacey will post updates to the above blog.  -Beth
>
> *******************************************
> Beth Kraemer
> Information Technology
> 2-1 William T. Young Library
> University of Kentucky
> Lexington, KY 40506-0456
> phone: (859)257-0500 x 2115
> fax: (859)257-0505
> kraemer at email.uky.edu
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>


-- 
Rich Wiggins
rich at richardwiggins.com