Social Networks

I thought the comments at Librarian in Black , and elsewhere, regarding the pros and cons of libraries' creating a profile on MySpace and other social networks were very interesting.

Cons ranged from the practical (e.g., who's responsible, privacy concerns, links to questionable content on "friends'" pages) to the more philosophical (e.g., we may think it's cool for the library to be on MySpace, but will the kids see us as authority figures invading their domain with unwelcome clutter?) I thought these were valid points for consideration.

On the pro side, users of MySpace can choose to be "friends" of the library, or ignore us if they really do find us intrusive. And I liked some of the ideas on how we could use a library MySpace page: a blog/feed for upcoming library programs, YouTube videos of library events, and podcasts of new teen books. Looking at our own YAAB page on MySpace, it also seems worth noting that the library's presence there gives teens who love reading a ready place to plug into. We can be there for the already book-oriented, regardless of how many young adults can be persuaded to consider us cool.