Question of the week: What kinds of social media apps do you think you might use in your library? If you use some already, what ideas did you get for making better use of them?
Right after our last class, I worked on a nice, thoughtful answer to this question. It was just pointed out to me today that I haven't completed the Week 5 homework, so apparently my post did not upload properly. So, here goes with a less thoughtful answer.
We currently use Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads at our library. I use Facebook to promote library events and community events, post pictures taken during our programs, and post covers for new arrivals. We use Pinterest primarily to get ideas for crafts for story-time, but I have recently started posting pins of book reviews on a Book Reviews board. . Rarely have I posted original pictures, just when we did a cool story-time craft that I didn't find on Pinterest. My GoodReads account is a personal account, but I use it to look at reviews of books I am considering for the library and to borrow cover art for posting new arrivals on Facebook.
I understand that Facebook accounts can be more effective if you invite interaction/responses by posting questions. I have done that a few times, but haven't had much luck with anyone posting replies. I have seen other libraries posting questions and they don't get many replies either. I'm not sure if Facebook is a very effective marketing strategy for our library, but it doesn't take a ton of time and I have heard from a few folks who learned about a program from Facebook.
Some of the apps I am not considering using include Twitter and Instagram. Those apps seem to be useful for places and folks who have a lot going on and have time to post tweets/photos often. If one is not going to post tweets/photos often, then I don't see the point of adding a Twitter or Instagram account. Things are just not happening so fast at our library that we need Twitter or Instagram. I really don't know if libraries that use Instagram are getting a lot out of it. When I looked at large libraries using Instagram, it didn't seem that they had many likes or responses to pictures they posted. So, I'm not sure how many they are reaching with this tool.
I use YouTube to find videos of how to do things, but I doubt that I will post any videos there. I'm glad it's there, and I'm glad other libraries have the time to post videos so that I benefit from them.
Shelfari is an app I would consider using. It looks cooler than GoodReads and has some kind of widget that can be used to post new arrivals to a website. I just don't know if I want to enter all of the books "read," "to read," etc... into another account. For the purpose of looking at book ratings/reviews, I probably will stick with GoodReads since it has more users.
Well, hopefully I will be able to publish my answer this time. Thanks for letting me know I didn't have an answer up yet. I enjoyed the class and look forward to seeing everyone again.
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