Week 5. Social networking

I have looked at My Space before mainly because my son had his space. My first impression was it isn't really my scene -I would much rather communicate with people directly by telephone or email and I was amazed at the lack of privacy concerns as to what people would be prepared to share about themselves in a public arena. However trying to look at a broader perspective I can see its use in public libraries keeping them connected with their younger customers, although I do remember reading an article somewhere in a library journal that a survey had revealed young people often resented an institution encroaching on what they regarded as their territory. I was particularly interested in the Ask a Librarian sites in Florida as I can see the potential for all libraries in this area.
As Facebook is said to appeal more to the 35+ age group I did think this was worth further investigation . I registered and added a photo to my profile and then searched under my University year of graduation ( in the UK) and found about three familiar names - one I didn't even know lived in Australia now. I have sent them all messages so it will be interesting to see if I get replies.
Ning did look more appealing to me - the layout was less fussy and I liked the fact that in some groups you had to be invited to be a member. I found it difficult to establish in many cases which country the groups were from -for instance did the Victorian teacher librarians group emanate from Victoria Australia or Victoria Canada. The majority of the groups did seem to come from USA. I can see potential here for a Police Librarians group. I also found several Cavalier King Charles Spaniels groups - but some didn't seem to have many members.