Social Media with Sumanjit

A post from our class discussions regarding a reply to our “Top 100 Ways Librarians Use Social Media” really got me thinking about our current usage of social media in libraries. Are we really using social media to our full advantage or are we just using too much social media. As information professionals we want to use the tools available to us for the greater benefit to our libraries. We want to advocate for our libraries, draw in patrons and fulfill their needs. Is our usage of social media really doing this? Is our usage more of an advantage or disadvantage?

Currently, who are we targeting? Is it a small portion of our library patrons, the whole or none? Does it matter? I think before taking this class my answer would have been no it does not matter who we are reaching and how many of them there are. It matters more that we are reaching some users rather than none. However, now that I am aware of the affordances of a tool and how we should take advantage of those affordances, I think that maybe we need to spend more of our time wisely and find ways to target everyone effectively rather than randomly. There is no point in using a tool that is not helping.

The reply to our “Top 100 Ways Librarians Use Social Media” suggested that possibly libraries are creating information overload with their social media usage and we should focus our energy into promoting the excellent resources we do have at our libraries. Most patrons do not even know what libraries are offering. Perhaps more traditional ways of promotion, such as in person and advertising should be used to get the word out about libraries especially during this transitional time.

Having reflected on this view point I feel that these are all valid points and should be considered. Anything that we can do to promote our services and engage patrons should be used. If social media can do this for us then perhaps that is the way to go.Wisely is the key here. We should use the tools that are  helping and advancing our services; hence, the affordances and constraints of a tool need to be outlined critically. Will this work for our library? Will it be advantageous to our patrons? Are we adding to information overload? Would patrons find this of value? These are all questions to consider, otherwise we are just adding to the other detritus of the web.

As I worked through module 1 and explored the concept of affordances of different social media tools, it really got me thinking about the positives and negatives of these tools. In the discussions forum my classmates and I thought about these affordances and constraints as they apply to social media applications, such as Google Docs, Zotero, RSS, instant messaging, wikis, Twitter, second life etc as the list continues.

Whenever I first come across a new social media tool of interest to me I always get excited and only focus on its affordances. However, we should keep in mind that the affordances of a tool always come along with its constraints. More than a few months ago I discovered StumbleUpon as I was randomly searching the web. StumbleUpon is a social  media tool that allows its user community to find and rate websites, videos, images etc based on recommendation and social networking principles.

At first I was excited to try this out and thought how I could use this tool in a library to create links for specific subject topics for my patrons or use this tool for social bookmarking (I’m also big on advertising for things so that “the word gets out” ). After further examining the affordances, my list of constraints grew greater. I realized that many of the suggestions that are given for your subject choices are not current. This is especially important in a library setting or for professional development as stale articles are outdated quickly.

At the time I glazed over the suitability of the tool. However, the  key is that we consider if the affordances of a tool will be suitable for our library and our patronage. If we can not connect both then our tool will be unsuccessful for fulfilling user needs. Sometimes we get overwhelmed with the bells and whistles of a tool and can not think beyond the immediate. The bigger picture is more important in the case of libraries because this picture is of our users.

Learn more about StumbleUpon from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stumble_upon

For LIBR 500 I had to create a blog that accessed the use of a social media tool in a specific library setting. I chose to blog about what public libraries were using blogs for. Since this blog fits nicely under this week’s module theme of AFFORDANCES I thought I should provide the link here-

http://publiclibraryblogs.wordpress.com/

By creating this blog I learned to critically access the use of blogs in different public libraries. Sometimes the blogs were a hit and sometimes a miss. This really goes to show that just because a social media tool has a number of advantageous affordances that does not mean the tool is suitable for that particular library and its community. The user’s needs should be considered along side the affordances of a tool so that the tool can be used to its maximum potential. This will only benefit the library community in the long run compared to having another failed project.