Social Networking Sites [Thing #15]

Social Networking Sites, websites that create online communities where people can gather together and share interests.

With a definition like that it SNSs sound very innocent and almost simple. The basis of them is very much the simple idea in the definition above. It is the issues around them that are complicating it.
Where should people be able to access these sites from? Should schools and libraries allow access to them? Are they really safe? Should we prevent students under a certain age from creating profiles?

What I think we should be doing is spending time educating parents to the benefits and drawbacks of the sites, enabling them to choose for themselves whether or not their child should or should not be allowed on. In the process libraries should consider brainstorming and developing ways to effectively use these websites to provide further access to materials and information.

In my opinion all Social Networking Sites are not created equal. For example: Facebook requires an active school-based e-mail to join a school's network. It also prevents you from viewing a person's profile until the person responds or becomes their friend.

I personally enjoy the level of privacy on Facebook and my ability to control what others see about me. MySpace to me doesn't provide the level of privacy I would like to have, and it allows anyone with an e-mail account to join. Their site also isn't as friendly nor are the pages as easy to navigate as facebook's.
For me Facebook is the social networking site that I prefer and would recommend.

In regards to libraries on MySpace and Facebook I honestly have trouble seeing where they fit in exactly. I can see that it does provide another space for the library to provide links to the various services that they offer, but since Social Networking sites are more about networking socially with others I don't see why a library would need one.
One potential place I could see for libraries is the benefit of news and feedback flowing more easily. With a facebook profile a library could post up events and various other news pieces, which would then be broadcast to patrons who were friends with the library profile. Also on the wall patrons could provide feedback as well as make requests for new material. One of the articles I read talked about how the author felt her school wouldn't want collection suggestions form an undergrad, this feeling might be true in a public library as well. So there could be links that provide. Now that I have brainstormed a little I really do see where a library profile on Facebook could be very beneficial.