[Web4lib] Myspace and libraries

[NORMA JEAN HEWLETT]

This week's issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy has an interesting 
article about how some nonprofit organizations are using social 
networking sites like MySpace and Gather. 

These excerpts seemed especially relevant for libraries:

"More than 50 percent of MySpace members are now older than 35, 
according to Media Metrix. On...Gather...at least half of the memberws 
are older than 42 and 'engaged and informed'...and more than 70 
percent of them have college degrees, the type of people who 'listen 
to public radio stations and read The New York Times' ..."

"For a lot of nonprofit organizations, it's hard to get a handle 
around social networking. As groups, we tend to focus on how to 
control things, and you can't always control things in this 
environment. You can only control what you say. That takes some 
getting used to." [Melissa Temme of the Salvation Army]

Article citation: 
Face Time. Scott Wescott. Chronicle of Philanthropy, January 25, 2007, 
v19, n7, pT-2-T3.

Jean Hewlett
Regional Librarian, North Bay Campus
University of San Francisco