Pursuing extra credit...

Several posts ago I mentioned that my niece suggested that I try for extra credit in 23 Things - "maybe you could win bonus points by telling the referee that you beat your goddaughter onto facebook." In a comment, "the referee" suggested that this might be possible if I blogged about library uses for this social networking site, so I'll give it a try (especially since KQW is working here today and is wild about the idea - she belongs to several work- and library- related facebook groups already).

(This is not my niece in the picture, it's the uh, avatar I've used for my facebook account!)

Social networking sites are new to me. I understand that facebook was originally aimed at college students, but has since expanded to include others, including high school students. Among my small group of facebook friends, the ones who seems most active on the site are the youngest, still in or just out of college; so this kind of site does seem to be, as we have been told repeatedly, one of the ways younger people now communicate - and if it's the way they communicate, then it makes sense that libraries should use it to communicate with them.

Facebook has many more features than I have been able to figure out or even look at yet, but one major part seems to be groups - people with like interests. How about a facebook teen book group? Or teen advisory board group?

Or, for us age-enhanced library staff, a group of librarians exchanging ideas about programming (including managing book groups)? Photos seem to be big in facebook, too, so one could form a group to share ideas visually with pictures - merchandising ideas, Summer Reading Club or program decorating, ideal meeting room setups, office arrangements, a national comparison of mascots... ooops, seem to be getting silly; I've been in front of the computer a bit too long, I guess.

The thing is, there are other digital ways to accomplish all this, and I'm not yet sure which are best. One thing I certainly have found out is that there's a wide world beyond pine!

No extra credit points needed - the learning process is the reward!

(Now why the heck does this keep posting as a solid lump of text, without the spaces I type in?)