I have been closely observing and interacting with the multiple dimensions of social media – don’t just think Facebook, Twitter and Google+ – as they collide and impact with the day-to-day concerns of information professionals.
Broadly speaking, engaging with social media in a meaningful way is at the core of what it means to be a socially networked information professional. It’s only by becoming active in social media that you can begin to determine the best social networking strategies for your library services.
Due to many reasons, not least the speed of change and development, it is impossible to read and write about social networking in order to learn social media strategy without engaging in it. Like so many things, it is only through engagement that practice turns theory into understanding. Anyone wishing to explore the many facets of social media would do well to adopt the mantra: engagement is participation. How else can you determine what, how, when, or why you might adopt a particular tool or strategy for your organisation?
There is no single ‘right’ social media platform and service that will fit every library and suit every information professional. Comparing social media sites is part of the research, as is determining what kind of social media your institution is interested in. Given that social media sites pop-up and also vanish relatively quickly, side-by-side comparisons will not give you all the answers. Interaction and conversation with others active in social media will be an essential part of your assessment while you keep your library’s objectives in mind.
Engaging in a conversation around social media opportunities is much more than just choosing tools and developing a social media strategy – you must consider the issue of purpose. As Bradley and McDonald wrote in the Harvard Business Review blog:
‘What is a good purpose for social media? Would you recognize one if you saw it? And if you could identify a good purpose, would you be able to mobilize a community around it and derive business value from it?
Success in social media needs a compelling purpose. Such a purpose addresses a widely recognized need or opportunity and is specific and meaningful enough to motivate people to participate. Every notable social media success has a clearly defined purpose.’
As librarians and information professionals, you should have an interest that goes beyond merely formulating a business approach. You are curators of knowledge and culture and invariably adopt products, tools, objects and strategies that add value to your users and communities. Issues that need considering and addressing include, ambiguities of workplace online and offline structures, digital preservation, content curation options, community, collaboration, personal social networking vs corporate social strategy, e-services, and many more.
Social media should empower connections within and beyond the research institution. Information professionals must effectively ‘let go’ in order to allow users, students, researchers, customers, patrons, or corporate clients to shape their own desired services with apps, eResources, recommendation services, or strategic information delivery systems.
Ultimately, a participatory culture is unavoidably participatory. If you do not actively embrace experimenting and exploring you will have gaps and weaknesses in applying social networking to the provision of library services. However, by jumping in, giving it a go and getting your hands dirty, fluency begins to emerge, and the transformation can be very exciting. Library 2.0 is vibrant, viral, communicates, promotes, and has the ability to engage with all users.
It’s like visiting a new country and learning a new language – you can merely get by with a tourist guide book, or you can develop a fluency that allows you to become immersed and enjoy every aspect of the new cultural experience.
Which would you choose?
(Image Credit: splitshire via www.pexels.com)
