What is Social Media?

What is Social Media?

“What does not include you, does not deserve you” Clay Shirkey

Social media “often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio”(Wikipedia, 2008). In many ways, social media is user centered and based upon building communities though the creation and maintenance of social networks, content and innovation.

 

Social media tools can take on many different forms, such as: instant messaging, youtube, social network sites, Wikipedia, podcasts, second life, crowd-sourcing and the list goes on. Libraries are beginning to integrate these tools into their programs , yet for libraries to become more relevant in today’s information society,  requires them to implement a  more pedagogical approach to learn with and from their users.

 

Key points: Libraries and Social media

• Librarians are now co-creators, co-producers and guides of information.
• Need to let go traditional systems of controlling and disseminating  information.
• Social media empowers and engage users–it gives back and entertains.
• User lead the process of creation, libraries role is to guide them.
• New tool for libraries to re-brand and market themselves to the public.

Social media in practice

• Allowing people to tag material in library catalouges.
• Users writing,  rating and reviewing library books, articles, magazine, movies…
• Library social networking sites (i.e facebook).
• Text  messaging and mobile searching.
• RSS feeds of new materials in the library.
• Podcasting and vodcasting library content.
• Libraries joining Second life and other virtual worlds.

(Madden, 2008)

 

Are libraries ready?

They have to be! If libraries do not  adopt these  new social media models into their systems, they are in danger of breaking their ties  with current and potential users. In response to this, libraries need to re-market themselves and communicate to people their  integral role they play in society—this is where social media applications can help build awareness and connections with patrons.

 

What else needs to happen?

 

Libraries need to break free from their traditional service led structures  and enter into a the new WEB 2.0 model of communication and network building. For example, once libraries collectively play a more active role online through the application of social media tools-the opportunities are endless.

 

The key to libraries success…

 

Partnerships with users and others non-libraries institutions, organizations, businesses and entrepreneurs are necessary and must be done collaboratively with other libraries. In a sense, social media and Web 2.0 encourage libraries to create clusters with people who have similar ideas, passions, expertise, and knowledge in librarianship and information science. Another way to think about it is to imagine libraries spearheading an online incubator model  filled with information professionals form various fields who all communicate and  create projects  on a regular basis together-this requires active user participation and input. This type of inclusive model creates opportunities that have not yet  been realized  in the library world.

 

What else?

 

There is a very active social media and information community emerging  with the advent of WEB 2.0—libraries need to band together and play a participatory role in these spaces. Their voices are very active in the forums they have created-yet they are surprisingly silent  in other spaces where people inhibit and this needs to change. Librarians  need to stop preaching to the converted, thinking their hip because they created a  Myspace account and become more active participants in the WEB 2.0 world we live in—before the web leaves us librarians behind.

 

Additional Resources and tools:

Youtube video: Social Media in Plain English

Helene Bowers presentation on: It’s Not About Us: Exploring Social Media Strategies in Libraries

Pew Internet Project : Social Media and Libraries: New applications for a new generation of users

Stephen Lighthouse, Blog: Libraries and Social Media

PPT presentation, Madden.  Social Media and Libraries.

Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008: Clay Shirky presentation

Podcast: Social media and education: The Conflict between technology and institutional education, and the future. By  Sarah Robbins-Bell, PhD Candidate at Ball State University.

Video: Internet Librarian 2008: Howard Rheingold