Facebook Apps & Libraries' Friendly Future

Laurie Bridges & Cliff Landis

What is Facebook?

"Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you."

Facebook: Why should librarians care?

• Popularity of the website• Serving generation Y (now and in the

future)• Social aspects of information sharing• Organization of information• Outreach opportunities• Advertising opportunities• Virtual networking with librarians

It's Popular!

• Facebook is the most popular website for young adults age 18-24.  More popular than Google. (Anderson Analytics, 2007).

Flickr: Laughing Squid

Top 10 Websites

Social Networking More Popular Among Women (18-24)

• Over 58 million active users and more than 1/2 of them return daily (Facebook, 2008)

• 85% of college/university students have a Facebook account (Facebook, 2008)

• Facebook is the 5th most popular website in the U.S. and 2nd in Canada (Alexa, March '08)

More Stats

Social Networking and Teens

• 55% of all teens, age 12-17, use online social networking sites (Pew/Internet, 2007)

• For girls social networking sites are places to reinforce pre-existing friendships (Pew/Internet, 2007)

• For boys social networking sites are places to maintain contact with friends and make new friends; older boys use social networking sites to flirt (Pew/Internet, 2007)

flickr: Feuillu

Growth & Reach

May 24

Sept.

Feb. ‘04

Facebook Usage

Average user spends 20 minutes per visit on Facebook (Facebook, 2008)Average user visits 32 pages per visit (Alexa, 2008)

Flickr: gywst

Applications for Libraries

• Notre Dame Library Search (2 active daily users)

• WorldCat (47 daily active users)

• JSTOR (20 daily active users)

Facebook Pages

Libraries and Pages - Hennepin

• 183 Fans

• Promoted on the catalog's blog and library website

Libraries and Pages - Aurora University

• Charles B. Phillips Library

• Over 120 Fans

• Promotion: each new Fan entered to win two Phantom of the Opera Tickets

Facebook Pages Stats

Events (require collaboration)

Poke Me!

http://flickr.com/photos/theyoungthousands/2225433234/

The Birth & Growth of

Ideas

http://flickr.com/photos/ko_an/35978155/

Back to the Future…

http://flickr.com/photos/locusolus/2302863748/

Social Objects

• Most viewed

• Most discussed

• Top rated

• Most responded

The Proof is in the Pudding(and by “the Pudding”, I mean LibraryThing)

(…or AADL)

(…or WorldCat.org)

Basically, lots of pudding, lots of proof.

(…or Amazon…)

Good grief, Cliff, where are you going with this?

http://flickr.com/photos/b-tal/163450213/

Library catalogs are social networks

for ideas.

Social Networks:

1.Profile

2.Friending

3.Public Comments--danah boyd

Ideas are social

The line between social space and intellectual space isn’t blurring…

It was never there in the first place.

How do you see in-person social interaction in your libraries?

--complaining about the printer--making out in the stacks--working in study groups--looking at MySpace profiles together--glaring at someone's cell phone going off (when it's annoying)--laughing at someone's cell phone going off (when it's a chicken)--getting help from a library worker--wayfinding together--meeting friends--checking out hotties

• How do we move beyond the old stereotypical librarian response?

http://flickr.com/photos/tinfoilraccoon/68838264/

Please, think of the users…

http://flickr.com/photos/megem519/821458301/

How to not be left behind…• talk to your users

& find out what they want

• use the tools that they are using

• broadcast what you're doing

• "earn your audience"

http://flickr.com/photos/vermininc/2337307518/

Thanks!

Cliff was able to present thanks to support received from The Center for Faculty Development and Research Development and Instruction Improvement, as well as a Library/MLIS Faculty Development Grant.

w00t!

Questions for us?

http://flickr.com/photos/-bast-/349497988/