Social networking

Whew! I knew absolutely nothing about social networking sites, so I read all of the articles to catchup on what I have been missing!
The question: Should VBPL use a social networking site to connect with teens for me has the resounding answer of yes!
I viewed the MySpace sites of the Hennepin County Library and the Denver Public Library and I thought they were creative and seem to be in keeping with the themes that teens are interested in. Our teen councils, teen read week, teen music, sorting through local news stories and putting up only the articles that have impact on teens, even something as simple as We IM do you use us? so many things we do could be sharing with our teens in a way they would enjoy! I definitely feel that MySpace is an excellent venue to reach the teens in Virginia Beach!

Social networking sites are really about...
*teens expressing themselves and socializing (and adults too in some ways!)
After reading all the articles I can see where MySpace and Facebook are popular with the tweens, teens, and 20-somethings but I also read of all the warnings on cyberbullying and cyber predators, so it is not all fun and games either. Even realizing that police, and school authorities can be viewing the information should urge caution for teenagers.

*Educating teens on the safe use of the MySpace accounts is certainly a key. But in the end it also involves personal responsibility, as the Cornell University article so vividly pointed out! Think twice about what you about yourself online - it can be used against you later.

*Privacy is a concern of mine. One of the articles mentioned if you wouldn't post it on a sign in your yard - think twice about posting it online.

*the good and the bad I think the cyberbullying is probably the saddest part of the MySpace experience that I read in the articles. Teens go to the site to fit in and feel part of the incrowd only to be bullied online. Like so much of life, books, the internet and even MySpace have good parts and bad parts that you have to learn to deal with as one teen said in the articles the good outweighs the bad for them.

Now, the next Thing is actually having the courage to sign up for a MySpace profile -- will I be brave and do it or just blog about what I see others do?? Stay tuned for the next post!!
Libraries
Library 2.0
MySpace
Social Networking