Thing 21: Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

This Thing covers other social networks such as Gather, WebJunction, and Ning. I was sure I'd been in Ning before, but it didn't recognize me. And once I got in, when I moved to another section, it didn't seem to recognize me. I've signed in three times so far (maybe it's just having a bad day.) Let's see if I can capture the code....


View my page on 23 Things on a Stick

I looked briefly at some of the other social sites, and again, if I had more time, it might be interesting to explore more. My problem is that I have TOO MANY interests (books, gardening, film, etc.) How to choose?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I joined LinkedIn the other week. It seems to be a good social networking site for professionals, and has some "cred" at my institution. One of my coworkers teased me yesterday about not responding to him yet in Facebook. I'll get to it soon. I like the fact that you can put in information about what you like (favorite books, films, quotes, etc.), but part of me is still dubious about this. How much do I want the greater universe to know about me? How much personal information do I really want floating out there?

Well, I've spent an hour on this today, and I'd better get back to updating my web guides. I'd like them to be finished when fall classes start in less than two weeks, and I've still got a stack to work on.

Be seeing you!

Thing 20: Libraries and Social Networks (Facebook, MySpace, etc.)

I'm up to social networks, including Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn (not mentioned in this Thing, but it may be coming.) I've heard about the first two for years now, but being a busy professional and parent of a not-yet-teen, I haven't ventured there. Just before I went on vacation, one of my coworkers sent me an invitation to join LinkedIn, so I did. (Then I "friended" several of my coworkers and promptly went on vacation - I still need to go back and respond to their responses.) So now I've joined Facebook, found some of my coworkers and sent them notes, started browsing through the list of people who graduated from the same high school (I stopped at 100, because I need to get this Thing finished. And I'll have to work on my profile more, too.) I was confused about "write on at least one wall," but I watched one of the video tutorials and figured that out (I suspect that the woman doing the Expert Village is Canadian - based on her pronunication of the word "about.")

For now, I just joined the 23 Things on a Stick Group, but I have in my notes that several of my "social networks" (listservs, business/academic librarians, fan groups) have groups in Facebook, so I'll have to add some down the line.

One of my colleagues has set up a Facebook page for our libraries, which he uses in new student orientation. Now that I'm in Facebook, I'll have to check it out and see if he's been updating it, added a link to the catalog and our Ask a Librarian service, etc.

Why do I think Facebook is growing rapidly? Well, I glanced briefly at MySpace, and it looked busy and glitzy to me. However, last year I read an essay by Dana Boyd called "Viewing American Class Divisions through Facebook and MySpace" that makes me think that this question is not as simple as it sounds.

That's all for now - almost time to go home for the day.