Learning 2.0: Facebook

I have been on Facebook for a little while now (6 months?) and have really enjoyed this social networking tool. I know I have found myself reconnecting with old friends from college and even high school, as well as connecting on a more personal level with many of my co-workers here at the university library. I think like Julie, I really like how organized Facebook is. It is very clean looking which honestly makes it really pleasing to the eye.

I particularly like a lot of the privacy and control settings available in Facebook. It's very easy to control who can see what and exactly how much they can see. It makes a fun way to share photos and updates about my life with people who are actually in my life.

I have been a bit of a lurker on MySpace. In particular, sometimes in fun to see how many people I graduated high school with have pages on there. I have been shocked by the number who do have pages that are completely open. So I can see their blogs, their personal photos, and many other things that I know I wouldn't have out there for the whole world to see. MySpace is just so......ummmm.....assualting? I can't think of a better word just yet. You open up a page and it slams you with music, photos scrolling across the screen, bold colors, etc. So not only are you try to turn off the music -- if you want to actually look at something on someone's profile -- but also you're trying to figure out where to look to find what you want to know.

In terms of librarians and Facebook and students, I think we're still at a wait and see. I know all of our student employees at the library have Facebook accounts, but I am definitely not going to request them to be my friend. A think such a request would have to come from the student. In a lot of ways, I do think it is still their space and they'll come to us when and if they're ready.