The WHY Factor in Facebook and Social Networking sites

In reviewing various articles this week concerning Facebook, it struck me how little libraries have come with the use of Facebook.  Terra Jacobson in Facebook as a Library Tool: Perceived vs. Actual Use talks of the “how-to” component of using Facebook in their setting.  What’s interesting is that her study was conducted in 2007 and yet very little has changed.  Results of surveys given to librarians reflect their feeling that using Facebook did not serve an academic purpose, and those who incorporated Facebook onto their websites did not keep it up to date.  Is this due to too much of a burden on librarians or just no desire to see it work?

In Use of Facebook in academic health sciences libraries, from 2009, it seems like social media is being used by libraries to stay open or “afloat.”  This article concludes the same as Jacobson’s article in that libraries are using Facebook to market their services and have a presence in the social network.  However, this article adds that only a small number of actual libraries are using Facebook therefore making the result inconclusive in determining whether or not Facebook is useful in health science libraries.  I think this can be said about a majority of libraries.

I read these two articles a few times, over a period of days.  But it was not until I read Brian Mathews’ blog this morning that it actually occurred to me that libraries have been asking the wrong question.  They’ve been concerned with the “how to use” and not with the Why - Why is it needed? Why is it important? Why is it necessary and essential? 

Mathews’ blog states that we are past the dabbling stages.  I strongly agree with this.  What is also interesting is that he is the first to ask the question of “Why.”  In order to get everyone on board with the how to use social networking favorably, the “why we should” needs to be analyzed and answered.    As I tweeted this morning, I will be anxious to see the results of Mathews’ efforts he is undertaking this summer.  My fingers will stay crossed that he will be successful.

Along with answering the “Why” factor, Jacobson’s conclusion hits another powerful concept: using any type of social networking (the article focuses on Facebook) requires a lot of attention, and if a library cannot commit, it will not be a very useful or successful tool.