mylibrary.com

I never really understood the fascination with Social Networking sites like myspace before; I just assumed it was a fad not unlike the Pokemon craze that took the nation by storm when I was nine. I have, however, created an account on facebook about a week or two ago and now understand the addictive power of these sites. A site like myspace could have a place in the VBPL system, but not on any practical level. It's a little difficult to explain. Libraries could use myspace for teens in the same way that they could use a wiki or even instant messaging. Teens could have a forum to talk about the Manga collection housed at a particular library or they could leave suggestions for librarians about what kind of library programs would be effective at mobilizing teens, basically it would be a myspace page for teens to talk about libraries.
I don't think that this particular feature of the web has any place in a library reference system though. Social networking sites, despite their mass popularity and the number of people utilizing them for things such as business, remain at heart a place for people to just talk to each other. I can't really picture an instance where someone on myspace would have a reference question about anything. I think more likely than not they would be at a library if they had a reference question and in that case a librarian who is in the immediate vicinity would be able to help them. IM would be more useful to utilize as a reference tool then myspace, but it could be a good place to set up a space for teens interested and committed to their local libraries.