NextGen: My MySpace Comment

By Woody Evans -- Library Journal, 2/15/2007

I have MySpace-hype fatigue. Although 2006 brought many thoughtful discussions about things like Web 2.0 changes and social networking, far too much of it focused on whether libraries should “get in on it.” Of course, we should be in on it! The real question is, once we're in, what the heck should we do with it?

Most of us need to do more—and sooner rather than later. We need to do more than just link to random “friends” and let them tag us with glittery pictures or peddle personal ads. We need to do more than put the sheen of a cool layout and hip MP3s on top of otherwise Web 1.0 library skeletons. NextGens especially can and should be doing a lot more than just using these excellent tools for glad-handing with other alpha-geek NextGens. Just as our users are doing every day, we must show our peers that, yes, these tools do matter for the future of library service.

First, library profiles in MySpace should be portals to more complete suites of library resources. This isn't to say that no libraries on MySpace keep good practices. But of all the library profiles I've seen, perhaps a half-dozen are really doing good things for users. We can do better. Are you with a college library? Then push information relevant to the courses offered on your campus. Are you with a public library? Why not push blogs that evaluate for parents manga and anime? Why not use your profiles to link to your database pages and your catalog?

You can indeed move traffic from MySpace to the resources that your patrons' tax dollars support. They're not paying you to goof off or show off online, you know—they're paying for innovative service. The sooner we start taking social networking software seriously as a tool to get information to people, the better off we will be and the better off the public, our patrons, will be.

If you just use your blog or MySpace profile to say how great and innovative you are, you'll soon find just the opposite message is being delivered. In 2007, it's no longer particularly innovative that you're using MySpace or Facebook, or that you're blogging or creating and pumping out video content to your local YouTube subscribers. “Innovative” is how you employ these tools continually to meet and exceed your patrons' expectations. Remember, these are just tools, after all. What you do with them is what counts.

Real innovation (and real Web 2.0, as I've argued elsewhere) is an attitude you take toward the service you provide. If your library has blogs, for example, you should use your blog to make readers aware of new library services and resources. Your blog should not be just a self-promotion machine. Highlight upcoming events, everything from sewing bees, lectures, LEGO Mindstorm events, writers' workshops, and book clubs. Sites like MySpace allow you to post bulletins to your friends as well as blog. You can use these tools to do everything from creating and blasting out readers' advisory lists to linking to materials in your collection and on the web.

Information-rich profiles can be either good sources for certain types of information, or good gatekeepers for information. For example, add Warren Ellis (www.myspace.com/warrenellis) as a friend if you want to push and pull information about the comic book industry. Add Danah Boyd (www.myspace.com/zapophenia) for someone who knows theory and sources regarding the technosocial impact of computer networks. Add the Portal to Texas History (www.myspace.com/portal_to_texas_history) for new directions in, yes, the history of Texas.

Also, try moving the best sources of information into your “top friends” on MySpace. You might think this sounds dangerous—and very 20th century of me—but I have to come down on the practical and service-oriented side of things. Sure, it's regrettable that you lose a certain amount of “cool face” by not having Fergie or Bow Wow as one of your top friends. But it's much more profitable for your patrons if you stop playing “who you know” and start serving them “what you know.”

Finally, if you embrace MySpace, be prepared to accept reference questions via your profile. Recently, I tried to IM five different library profiles, including libraries in Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Oregon. To my surprise, each had its profile set to “this user has chosen not to accept instant messages.” Only Brooklyn College's MySpace profile, to its eternal credit, linked to its “Ask a Librarian” service.

Listen up! Your patrons are hanging out in MySpace. If you really want to foray into their world, you'd better be able to pick up the line. And when they do come calling, be prepared to answer.