faces, spaces and bebo eons...

#21 I have looked at myspace and facebook for a couple of yrs. now with kids that are at that stage in life. One thing that I really did not know about was how very many groups you can join . There are just sooo many groups that one can be part of. I signed up for an account with myspace but never use it for myself. I actually got an account to see what my son was liking about it. I guess it is slightly like having im in the way you can carry on conversations with people. I did take a look at the 3additional sites: bebo, eon, and bookspoke. I really loved
eon! The layout of the site was so easily navigated and "user friendly". I guess that due to the fact that the site is for ages 50 and over, I found it to be terrific- many useful areas on that site to explore. I may have to wait a bit due to the age requirement... I looked into bookspoke and thought that as far as the library goes it would be a useful tool for us to look at--I see that at least one of our staff already utilizes the site! I think that myspace and facebook are so popular due to the ease of use (saves time on the phone) as well as the fact that kids, especially, are attracted to the profile emphasis where you get to talk about yourselves and your likes/dislikes, your favorite things, etc. etc. It builds common ground with people you may not know, etc. Of course, for the young user and the inexperienced, it can also lead to problems that are serious or not, like bullying and even more serious threats.
As far as ease in using these sites with patrons, I think that the library could create its own group which could serve patrons who want to ask questions --general or book/tech related-- add suggestions for buying/purchasing new materials for library, etc. It would have to monitored, but this could benefit the library and our patrons.