facebook:A friend for libraries

Facebook: A Friend for

LibrariesPresentation by Mark-Shane Scale

Departmental Librarian (DLIS, UWI Mona) & Chair of the IT working party 2007 (LIAJA)

Facebook: A Friend for

LibrariesPresented at LIAJA regular members

Friday, November 16, 2007KSAPL, 2 Tom Redcam Drive, Kingston

Agenda

• The trends

• Background of Facebook

• Facts on Facebook

• How are libraries using Facebook

The Trends: • A Generation with new Information needs

• Rise of Social Network & Utility Software

New Generation of users

• Books are being written for the parents of this generation

• Perhaps one needs to be written for Librarians as well

What Gen Y users want:

• Access to information about their friends– information submitted by friends– that traditional libraries do not provide

• Submit own personal updates to friends

New Generation User Information Needs

• Events happening that they can go to• What colleagues are reading• What friends are doing• Who their friends know• Movies their colleagues are watching• Games their colleagues are playing• Music that colleagues are listening to

Social Software

And its profound ‘impact information and communication in the Information Age’

• The entire Chapter 4 of this report published by the ALA in September/October 2007, discusses MySpace and Facebook.

New Addictions?• MySpace and Facebook have become addictions

in our society. Similar to people who are dependent on drugs or alcohol, social networking junkies count the minutes to their next profile fix, checking their computers multiple times per day to see how many shout-outs, virtual drinks or new friends they've acquired.

– Bill Tancer

(General Manager of Global Research at Hitwise)

“MySpace v. Facebook: Competing Addictions.” Time. 24 Oct. 2007.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1675244,00.html

The New Stage in the Web

• "The Web has moved to its next stage… We always knew that the Web would be significantly social. We also always knew that it would be standard, open, and extensive...’ [emphasis mine] - Eric Schmidt (Google CEO)

qtd. in Amanda Beck “Google lures MySpace for social network platform.” Reuters1 Nov 2007. <http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSWEN225320071101>

facebook

Picture taken by Paul Sakuma / APhttp://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1644040,00.html

• Facebook.com's mastermind Mark Zuckerberg

• 23-year-old CEO in Silicon Valley.

Facebook: The face of a young entrepreneur

Background

• Facebook was launched in February 2004• Founded by CEO, Mark Zuckerberg

• former-Harvard student

• ran it as a hobby project

•Received financing for the project

• spread to the dorms of Harvard

An in-depth profile of Facebook, written by Mashable contributor Sid Yadav and edited by Pete Cashmore. Image credit: Bryan Veloso.

http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/

• Facebook is now growing at a rate of more than 150,000 new users per day

• More than 50% of Facebook’s users come back to the site daily ( approx 12 million people)

• Most of these new users are ages 25 and up

People like to share information with their friends.

Facebook generates a social graph of each user’s friends. And seeks to route updates on each persons friends immediately.

Facebook has created an interface whereby software developers worldwide can launch their applications on the network. These applications can then be shared among friends. The effect of this is an increase in marketability and popularity of the site.

What is the Main reason behind this rapid growth?

The Social Graph

makes the cost of sharing information very low

Each person who joins the network adds value for ultimately everyone else in the network.

As information is posted on the site, it is spread to everyone starting with the individual’s real connections (friends)

Mark Zuckerberg speaking about the “Social Graph”at the Launch of facebook’s newest platform, F8.

Social Graph

Facebook Applications:

• GROUPS: helps with this efficient spread of information

• NEWSFEED: helps each user receive news that is specific to his/her needs. This amounts to more than 50 pages of personalised news available to each user per day

New York Time October 25, 2007

• Facebook boosters say social networking represents the future of online activity. Advertisers are attracted to these sites because they offer an opportunity to aim ads at particular users who are likely to be interested in their product or service.

Other features of facebook

Surveys of Facebook• 2005 survey of college students:

– approximately 85% with Facebook account– 60% of them logging in daily.

• Student Monitor survey– the most “in” thing after iPod and tying with

beer,

• comScore Media Metrix reveal that users: – spend approximately 20 minutes everyday on

Facebook.

Facebook is pushing to make the world a more open place!

This is done by building applications that help people to use their real connections to share information more effectively.

More than 24 million active users on facebook (over the last 30 days).

Approximately 50% of these users come back to the site daily

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TRADITIONAL LIBRARY

• A large percentage of the world’s population consists of youth ages ….

• In order for the traditional library to remain viable, we have to formulate new/ creative ways of meeting the needs of this demographic group

• This demographic group is accustomed to a fast paced world in which the latest information is easily packaged and readily available for use.

Facebook use by Libraries

• Networking

• Promoting library services

• Marketing and promotion of the library

• Promoting library collection

• Access to library collection or services

• Communicating to users

• Collaboration with other libraries