Twitter Experience

I have not been overly excited about the social networking sites, such as MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook, which have come about over the past several years. I feel like people waste lots of time seeing what other people are doing that they are not doing, making them feel left out. They appear to be big gossip columns as well. Also, there are so many different ways people can find when their friends post that it is distracting. People can be alerted via e-mail and/or phone every time someone new makes a comment on their page, etc. I find this can divert people’s attention so they cannot focus on other important aspects of life. I also believe that these sites are leading more and more people to see what other people are doing via these social networking sites instead of developing interpersonal skills with others, especially the people they should care about most.

In spite of my feelings about social networking sites, I set up a Twitter account. Setting up a Twitter account is not difficult. To sign up, you give your full name, your e-mail, and a password. Adding people, libraries, or other places that I wanted to follow wasn’t hard either. All I had to do was use the search box to locate who or what I wanted to follow. After I added a few places, Twitter suggested a few places that were similar to what I was following. Some of these places I added and some of them I did not; it depended on whether they were of interest to me or not.

Although I am not that “into” using social networking sites, as a librarian I could see Twitter being useful in helping me reach people who would not otherwise know what is going on in the library. When I Tweet, messages I post will go out to everyone who has chosen to follow me. I could Tweet about activities that are going on in the library, such as a book club or author visits. I could also Tweet about new books that students might find interesting. If students are following my Tweets, they will know what is going on in the library and may be more likely to come to the library to get books to read for fun, or to find something of interest that could be used for a class assignment. Students could also recommend books, share links, or ask questions through Twitter, as could teachers. I could also provide Tweets that could be helpful to teachers, such as information about equipment, technology, or publications that teachers may find useful. Teachers will also be aware of what is in the library and may be more willing to use what the library has to offer.  As a librarian, following different libraries, librarians, and places such as the ALA book list and School Library Journal on Twitter could help keep me updated on what is going on with books, book lists, and libraries, which could be useful.