This is hardly anything revolutionary for me, since I joined Facebook several years ago. I actually really didn't want to, at the time, but with all of my cousins splitting up and heading off to college around the same time as me, I got pressured into it. I know a lot of people use it obsessively, but I really don't see the appeal. I mean, it's useful, and fun, and I like seeing the things that other people link to their accounts, including the innumerable pictures of cute kittens. It could be the fact that I've steered far clear of Farmville that I can say that, but I think it's better to not have to run to your Facebook account every few hours. I feel bad enough having to run to check my e-mail several times a day!
I know there's been a big hullabaloo recently about Facebook and privacy issues, and I understand that it's a very real concern.... but, at the same time, I've tried friending people who have their security set to the absolute maximum. Let me tell you, they become hard to track down, much less friend. In one case, I actually had to contact my friend in person and ask her to add me, because her account wouldn't let people solicit friend requests. I prefer to have middle-of-the-road security settings: there are some things (especially e-mail addresses) that shouldn't necessarily be given away on the open internet, but at the same time, you should leave up enough information so that people trying to find you can ascertain that you are, indeed, the one they're looking for.
Many of the Facebook groups suggested by the 23 Things guide hadn't even occurred to me, so I quickly hopped onto FB and added myself to the American Library Association Members list and Library 2.0 Interest Group, and "liked" the Wisconsin Library Association page (still very small - I suspect it was created by members, and not the WLA itself) and the Jail Library Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (I'm a member of JLG, and I remember there being discussions about choosing a name for a Facebook page, but I don't remember a decision having been made!).
As for libraries... it's definitely a good thing to have a page. While people may not check it constantly, if people just "join" or "like" it, they'll get the updates for new posts on their wall, so it's a free and automated way to get the word out about programs, updates, and general library news. It's also a good way to display general information, including library contact information and photos and/or video of the library, its resources, some of its latest programs, etc. It costs nothing, doesn't take much time, and has a virtually limitless potential audience: what's not to like?
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