So I read just today that social networking may actually have a more positive effect than we could have even imagined. The AP reported that a young man in Fargo, N.D. used Facebook to create a page to recruit volunteers to help make sandbags near the rising waters on the banks of the Red river. When social networking is used for good, then you really have to applaud the technology.
Fargo uses social networks to fight floodwaters
However, there is such a thing as technology overload...
If Gather is the new MySpace for books, then it could already be "out of fashion." It seems like there's a new social networking space popping up every day. What's hot today, may not be hot tomorrow.
It's as much a personal choice as deciding what brand of laundry detergent to buy... assuming one even uses laundry detergent!!!
Ning has potential, but it's really not much different than the "groups" listing on Facebook.
I do like that I was able to search both without creating a new account. That makes them useful without the committment.
The WebJunction article Building a Social Networking Environment at the Library actually made a more convincing argument for the use of social networking in the library, then anything else I have seen thus far. Maybe it's because the language was actually easy-to-understand. No techno-jargon gobbledy-gook.
I have been a member and fan of Last.fm for a long time. I don't really use it for networking, but it's a great source of pleasure for me when I need to concentrate at work and tune out what's going on around the cubicles in the office, so I tune in here. No downloads required, no MP3 players necessary! Just pick some "cruicin'" music and I'm on my way...
Nibbledish (formerly OpenSource Food) appeals to me because I like to cook, and while it looks yummy, I don't know how it differs much from one of my all-time favorites All-Recipes.
It's obvious that there's a networking place for everyone these days, I'm just not convinced the library is the place to be facilitating that. Of course, I guess the awareness of these sites by staff, and being able to find more places for unusual information will be useful on that one day when that one patron comes looking for the Model Shipbuilders: The Shipmodeler's Online Community or any other unusual group I can't already find via another search method.
