to Ning or not to Ning

I didn't really know much about Ning until today. In fact, I only even knew it existed because someone mentioned the SCILS Ning on the wiki or Twitter or somewhere.

After poking around a little and watching LT's very informative screencast, I see that its major attraction to users is that each individual Ning is more exclusive than Facebook or MySpace so users feel more secure using it in terms of privacy (whether they are or not, I'm not sure). It also seems that some people who resist using Facebook or MySpace are more compelled to use a Ning because of its specific purpose. Rather than just signing up and seeing who you see, you join a specific group with a particular end in mind, to learn more about bicycle repair or to connect with other chihuahua lovers, for example.

However, it seems to me, that with the exception of the "sense of security," Ning's aims could also be achieved with a Facebook group (although, again, we've touched on something I don't know that much about; despite belonging to several, I primarily just lurk).

reflections on the boyd articles

Wow, the two boyd articles assigned this week really gave me a lot of food for thought. My initial reaction to the question of what librarians should take away from these articles was, "uh, every word." After reflecting for a while, I think I was able to distill a few tips, pointers, and things to think about from the articles.

• The first article mentioned that many users of SNS's are daily users. Libraries that create profiles on social networking sites need to be mindful of this and update their content often to stay fresh, relevant, and interesting.
• Both articles touch on the fact that online networks often reflect existing offline networks. The first also mentions that SNS's are more often used to connect friends-of-friends than strangers. For this reason, it might be in the library's best interest to let volunteers or regular patrons know about your online presence first so that they will "friend" the library (thus reflecting an offline relationship) and their friends will see (thus introducing friends-of-friends).
• Both articles discuss the importance of image in social networks, how users can "type themselves into being," etc. The library needs to be conscious of the image it projects in its profile.
• In the first article, the importance of comments (on walls, etc.) is brought up. Discourse is an important aspect of social networking. Librarians need to consider whether they want to just "push" information on a profile page or if they also want to engage in conversation by replying to comments left by patrons (the method I might suggest based on the literature).
• Finally, when choosing an SNS for the library and creating a profile, as with any other library programming, librarians need to consider their user population.
  

Sticky Wicket

I think there are three big reasons that social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are such "sticky" Web sites (or, as I like to say, such "timesucks").

The primary reason these sites take up so much time is that they are constantly changing. Another site I visit often is my hometown newspaper, but I know that it will update once a day unless something really exceptional happens, so...I check it once a day. On the other hand, something new is posted on Facebook every second. Every time you go back to the site, there will be something new to look at, you can count on it.

The second reason is the sheer number of links and information on a site like Facebook. You go online, check your profile, and the next thing you know, through a series of links you've followed through from your home page, you're looking at pictures of people you went to high school with but haven't spoken to in ten years and an hour of your life is gone. There's just so much to get sucked into.

Finally, I think people get sucked into social networking sites is the voyeuristic aspect of them. You just have to know what Jane ate for lunch or where Jim is traveling on business this week. It's kind of weird, when you think about it, how much blogs and social networking sites and the like have brought the mundane details of our lives out into the limelight and somehow people actually want to know those details.