Wow, what a lot of varying thoughts about libraries and MySpace and similar sites. I think that MRRL having a MySpace page may be a good idea, but there are some things the articles and blogs brought up that need to be addressed.
Would MySpace be relevant to our patrons?
Would the library be viewed as "invading the teens' space"?
Questions of responsibility exist. Is the library in anyway responsible for the content on a "friend's" page?
Will a MySpace page work well with the personality of the library itself and the staff member(s) who are setting it up and updating the site?
What could having a MySpace page do for the library's reputation with teens and adults? Both positive and negative?
If "friends" sites are one click away from the library's page will the public associate the friend's page with the library?
How could the page represent the library as opposed to representing just the staff member(s) who created it?
Can MySpace use posted content any way they like? Can it be removed by the library or by MySpace staff at any time?
How do you tell how much a MySpace site is utilized by your patrons, besides the number of "friends" listed of course? Is there a way to keep track of visits? Is there a way to know if it's local people, libraries, authors etc., that is viewing the page?
Other thoughts from the articles and blog discussion:
The Stoneham Public Library listed the age as the library's age and also has a cool slide show of the covers of new teen books. I like that Steele Creek Teen page included MySpace Safety information. The Denver Public Library (eVolver) not only has music and movie reviews but is even holding a YouTube contest for teens to submit their YouTube videos. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburg site has an appealing design.
David Lee King who is a digital branch and services manager (how cool is that they have a "digital branch") and uses his space well. It's nice that the blog part of MySpace will allow all "friends" of the library to be updated on events and new items at the library just by updating the blog. I am concerned about the amount of time it would take a staff member to keep the MySpace updated and relevant for the teens (which seems to be most libraries' primary audience). The teens are used to instant facts and entertainment. To keep them coming page the page would need to be updated regularly but also set-up in a fun appealing way.
MySpace Rant: I agree that education and parental involvement is the key to any kind of safety on the Internet. I hear some of our parents take the Internet way to lightly with their teens and others know nothing about it so they won't let their kids use it here either.
Librarian in Black: Is any potential danger the same as it is in a chat or email for inappropriate material, fraud or luring someone to met you? Most of the concerns above came from this blog.
Decoding My Space: Teens need to know Anyone can see what the put on their MySpace Page. MySpace started as a site for artists and musicians to connect. By Sept. 2006 it had more than 100 million profiles. One teen in the article was quoted as considering the Internet a more "evolved way of communicating instead of the telephone, cellphone or IM."
The article also commented about parents not understanding the technology so they avoid setting guidelines for their kids online. So, maybe the library should consider pointing out online safety to the parents as well. I know we do some on the Internet permission form but a lot of parent's don't read it, they just sign or they say something like "Oh, my kid won't go anywhere or do anything he/she shouldn't." Rarely, I've seen a parent take their 13 or 14-year-old aside and read through the Internet safety tips and discuss these with their teen. The article specifically mentioned that "friend" online does not mean the same thing as it does in the physical world. "Friend" just means a person I want to pay attention to online. Some teens will add strangers to their "friends" list just to increase the number of friends they have and appear popular.
MySpace is attempting to add some security measures. Such as they limit contact of anyone 18 or older to a teen unless the teen adds them to their "friends" list first. The MySpace staff also remove nude photos, and things that promote hate or racism. But anyone can still post suggestive photos or even photos of the crime they just committed. Some teens have been arrested after bragging online about a crime then posting the proof. Students have also used MySpace and other similar software, chat and email to bully others. Some students have even made up a bogus site about their classmates.
Teens, college students and even adults need to keep in mind that anyone can view what they have posted and the post could hurt college admissions and being hired.
Wired Magazine: Social Networking for Parents: I thought Parry's comments were good and to the point for both teens and parents.
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There are a lot of good questions in this post!!! I'll take 'em in order...
1. Would MySpace be relevant to our patrons? - Some - but not all. And that's ok. Not everything we do is relevant to all of our patrons - but we do have a VAST number of PCC patrons who use MySpace in the PCC. I know we can be reaching them through MySpace if we just let them know we are there.
2. Would the library be viewed as "invading the teens' space"? - Some might, but this is purely voluntary. They don't have to become our friend, or visit our site or do anything they don't want to do. We are just there for the folks who want us!
3. Questions of responsibility exist. Is the library in anyway responsible for the content on a "friend's" page? - No, and I think anyone who uses MySpace will understand that - they'll have friends who post odd things on their pages, too!
4. Will a MySpace page work well with the personality of the library itself and the staff member(s) who are setting it up and updating the site? - It works well with me. If I were to leave the library, Letitia would have a much bigger job in keeping it up until she found someone else to help her! That's a good question, though. It's not for everyone, that's for sure!!
5. What could having a MySpace page do for the library's reputation with teens and adults? Both positive and negative? - I'm not sure I can answer that one, we just don't know. I do know that it improves our reputation in the library community, though. It's a hot new technology that we are taking advantage of - we'll just have to wait and see what the response is from our patrons...
6. If "friends" sites are one click away from the library's page will the public associate the friend's page with the library? - Probably, which is why we are trying to be careful about the friends we make. We don't want to be too exclusive, but we don't want to "endorse" crappy friends, either.
7. How could the page represent the library as opposed to representing just the staff member(s) who created it? - I try to keep myself out of the page as much as possible - I just add new movies and music to the page. Letitia blogs for us, so her personality is more apparent on the page than mine is! I think that the more people involved in the page, the better chance we have of having a space that reflects the library as a whole, rather than just one person.
8. Can MySpace use posted content any way they like? Can it be removed by the library or by MySpace staff at any time? - That's a good question, too!! The MySpace terms of use state that we continue to own all content posted to the site - they don't claim any of it. MySpace *can*, however, remove any content that they feel violates their terms of use - porn and the like, mostly. We can remove any content on our page at any time and complain to the MySpace staff about anyone else's content.
9. How do you tell how much a MySpace site is utilized by your patrons, besides the number of "friends" listed of course? Is there a way to keep track of visits? Is there a way to know if it's local people, libraries, authors etc., that is viewing the page? - We get a number of profile views (591 at this time) and that's it. We have no way of knowing who is viewing the profile or where they are from.
My take on the MySpace issue is that it is a "teaching moment". We have the opportunity to let people know about MySpace in the context of them using our MySpace content. I agree that the MySpace safety tips posted by one library are very cool. I'd like to do a "pimp my myspace" class for teens, throw in some safety information and post the whole thing on our MySpace page - but I need to get it together and make it happen first...
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