Social Networking

"I wonder what Piglet is doing," thought Pooh. "I wish I were there to be doing it, too."

Do I start a Facebook account? That has been my dilemma for a good while now. I listen to friends talk about it and have been very intrigued. I have gone on Facebook to look to see if family or friends have already set up accounts. Without setting up an account, one can not view much. A wonderful friend gave me her user name and password, so that I could actually start to investigate.

I really like the whole concept. However, is this something that I personally would enjoy and keep up with? I decided that I should look at the pros and cons. It would be great to catch up with people that I have not spoken with in years. Things in our lives change so rapidly, it is very easy to no longer be in touch with people that you were once very close with. That, I find most exciting. The downside is the first step that you have to ask permission to become a friend. If I ask someone, I don't want the rejection. The friends that have talked about this, have issues turning people down to access their page. Do you allow your boss or coworkers access? How about you parents or family members? You can make your page as private as you want, but what kind of information do you really want to share? Do I want all my conversations posted for everyone to read? I don't think so.

Side story: I used to be in touch with a college professor. We were very good friends. Many of his former students liked to keep in touch with him. He decided that he should start, basically a social network, so that we were all in touch. This was prior to the present Web 2.0 era we are now in, so he was ahead of his time. I had written him a private letter one Christmas. The next thing that I knew, that letter was sent to the whole group that he had joined together for this social network. I was humiliated. I never dreamed that he would share this private note with everyone. So, I quit writing to him. I lost the trust of one I thought I could call good friend.

This is the big reason that I had really put off starting a Facebook account or any of the other social networking accounts. I believe that it could be a good idea to set up an account for work and have it focus on storytimes and special programs. Many of the mothers and fathers that come to storytime come for the social interaction. Maybe setting up an account and letting the mothers and fathers know about this site would provide one more invaluable service for our patrons. I am not for sure that I really would keep up with a project like that.

As an added note, people have been surprised that I like the group Queen. So, I decided that I needed to be more predictable and since this lesson is about social networking, I decided that I needed to have a music video and what else should I use but a song from High School Musical. After all, we are all in this together. Does this make everyone happy?!