Thing 20 of 23 Things

I got way more satisfaction reading about MySpace and Facebook than I got being a registered user of them, granted that I'm a very new user. On the surface it didn't seem that I connected with more than two people, I did join a 23 things on a stick group on Facebook with a select group of 18 others. It will be interesting if that group continues to correspond. I wrote on "the wall" with my group. It feels odd to write "my" group. I'd like to have more time figuring out what all these sites have to offer, but I do see that they are meant to be one stop shopping for all your needs and not just socializing. The book section in MySpace was very complete. I see that there are "100% Free James Patterson layouts" available to download. This gets me thinking that if the big name authors are creating a presence in these sites with all of the marketing expertise available to them, than it must be a worthwhile platform.

If the teens and twenty somethings are using FaceBook and MySpace to create content that is at least adhering to the policies of these sites, than it is a positive way to spend some of your time. If all the user is doing is clicking and scrolling for hours on end, I find it a great waste. The library can make a difference by adding content that gives them a voice in their local library. They can offer suggestions of books and movies and as I read about, even be told when they are ordered and available. The Facebook and Myspace user may also be asked if they would want any classes for web surfing, for instance, or anything like that. The Information Wants to be Free blog by Meredith Farkas had great ideas and great reasons to do them. She advised libraries to not set up an account on Facebook that wasn't interactive. She told of one library that had a search box right on their page so the user did not even need to go to the library's website. That is s-o-o-o cool.

In the 7 things you should know about Facebook article the author referred to the term "information literacy". (I've read this term before in researching during this learning process.) This article defined it as: "The ability to negotiate opportunities and risks of the the internet age." I was virtually "information illiterate" before learning the Things. As a librarian, I'm particularly proud to say I'm no longer information illiterate and I plan on trying to keep up with the internet age.