Saturday, March 29, 2008

Social Networks Thing 21

Social networks are not quite the latest thing, but they are new to me and probably some of my fellow librarians. We have been fumbling around Facebook and Ning. There are a few photos, but not much video or music on the 23 Things site on Ning. I have newly joined the Craftster network as well as Facebook and Ning. Whether I find something of value on them will determine if I will visit them in the future. I also have been a member of Webjunction for the past 6 months or so. I guess I thought of webjunction differently than Facebook, but perhaps it is similar. I saw webjunction as a source of information about libraries and links to sites of interest to librarians. I have always been reluctant to post anything on that site because you have to dig so much to get to the interaction part. There's also no customized home page as in the other networks.
I do not find social networks extremely appealing. I think "social" is the key word. I don't feel a need for more social interactions. I interact plenty with my patrons and my co-worker. I have a husband, children and friends so am not lonesome. So anyway, unless there's more library related need, I probably won't be using social networking sites.
I joined Craftsters for support regarding knitting. I would like a place I could go to ask questions and get advice. The directions on many patterns are pretty vague. I don't know if this site is the best place to go, or just to look in a book or look at general on-line informational sites. Maybe there is a different knitting network. All these sites and badges and widgets can be overwhelming and time consuming.

1 comment:

Cindy said...

You right on many counts in regards to social networks. Their appeal really varies to most individuals and what appeals some definitely doesn't appeal to others...such is the case with myself. And yet when we do find something of interest we are drawn to it.

What's nice about looking at these tools is our ability to be in the know in addition to the experience to make observations and assessments about new tools to come.

Cindy Gruwell
23 Things CMLE Coach