Social networking sites

I have been browsing and experimenting with social networking sites. I browsed the websites which were listed in http://licence2testdrive.blogspot.com/2009/04/test-drive-4-social-networks.html.

• I thought that MySpace was a good place to advertise the Brisbane International Film Festival as I have been informed in the past that MySpace is mainly used for promoting music and the arts.
  
  
• The National Library of New Zealand is using Twitter. Twitter is very popular with young people, particularly those who enjoy sending text messages from mobile phones. Twitter would be a useful way to communicate with such people.
  
  
• UQ Library was very clever to create an application for Facebook. Facebook is an extremely popular website, particularly among young people.
  
  
• Ning fascinated me. The Gaming Learning and Libraries page seemed to have a fascinating array of elements.

I have updated my own Facebook page, created a couple of years ago, and have applied for membership of a Ning group, as well as browsing through the range of other Ning groups.

I am hoping to have fun in the future participating in and learning from members of Ning groups. I already find Facebook useful as I receive emails from groups I am part of, including the ALIA Facebook group. It is also fun swapping messages with Facebook friends.

Discussion point:

• Possibilities for your library to use social networking for client interaction, marketing and networking opportunities
  
  I think that Facebook and Ning would be useful sites for State Library to use for client interaction, marketing and networking.
  
  State Library could have a Facebook page with clients becoming "Friends" of State Library. State Library could also be a "Group" clients could join. We could also follow the example of the University of Queensland and have a catalogue application for people's own Facebook pages, as well as perhaps RSS feeds of our blogs and other news feeds to keep people up to date with events at State Library. It is very easy to add RSS feeds and blogs to Facebook pages.
  
  State Library could also be a Ning group which clients could join. We could have photographs of library events, news, and make use of all the other elements which are possible on Ning pages.
  
  In both Facebook and Ning, clients who become members can contribute comments. This is a good way of encouraging interaction from clients, enabling two-way communication.