#18

I've had Facebook and MySpace accounts for quite a while. I recall being decidedly skeptical of the utility / necessity of both when they were first becoming popular during my undergrad years, but I signed up for accounts anyway.

Using MySpace always felt like a bit of a chore, and I rarely visit my own MySpace page anymore (maybe once every few months?). No matter how many redesigns they have attempted the interface at MySpace has always been so clunky. Also, spam via MySpace was pretty irritating (spam messages being left on your page or spam friend requests). The main reason I ever started using MySpace (and the only reason I visit any of its pages at all anymore) is because of the ability to hear songs that are posted by musicians I like. It's still good for that, even though the MySpace music player has never been ideal either.

I was really happy right away with how Facebook put me back in touch with high school friends that I either had not spoken with for a few years, or it just made it easier to keep up with good friends that happened to be at different schools. The exclusivity of it (how it was just for college students) was sort of neat. Clearly now Facebook has become a behemoth, but, for me, it still does a good job of serving that original purpose of creating a common ground by which to communicate and share with friends. Now, though, it is a common ground for communicating with family, artists, musicians, and, for better or worse, corporate entities of all kinds. In my mind it has succeeded because it does what MySpace tries to do but in a cleaner, more accessible way. Sure, you can't deck out your Facebook page with goofy decorations and backgrounds that make it chug along at a snail's pace, but, with that customization aspect lacking, Facebook is a far sleeker and easier to use. Everything feels more integrated in Facebook whereas MySpace feels very piecemeal.

I'm not aware of many libraries actively trying to reach their user base via MySpace anymore. It's much easier to do this on Facebook now, and I do think it's a great way to show patrons "Look at this thing we just did yesterday / right now!" and to keep them updated on upcoming events, new arrivals, etc. It could also be a good way to solicit feedback (although folks might not be comfortable with the fact that their comments wouldn't be anonymous on Facebook). And when / if Facebook falls out of favor with the general public, librarians will just migrate along with everyone else.