Thing 20: Social Networks

Several months ago when I couldn't stand the 2.0 buzz anymore I ventured into Facebook and slapped a little profile together. I was surprised that some random people from my life actually found it. I'm not sure why I chose Facebook over MySpace to start with. That's an interesting question - usually I know precisely why I choose one brand over another. If Facebook is the fastest growing social network it's surely because the name is out there so much - it's even used in the latest iPhone commercial.

Since I already had a Facebook profile I added one to MySpace as well (www.myspace.com/kspanier). It's not lengthy but I can work on it later. I don't know if this is accurate, but to me Facebook seems more like a place to hang out and meet up with friends. MySpace seems more like where to go if you have something to sell whether it's music or information. I can see me creating a Knowledge Nomads space with my capabilities and other pertinent information for potential clients. But on the other hand, couldn't that be done with a blog and/or website as well? Maybe the info needs to be everywhere to reach more people.

I liked how authors could post comments on the library spaces we were directed to. However, saying that Hennepin County Library is an 88 year old woman kind of seems at odds with the whole MySpace effort. First of all, who says a library is a woman? And even if the system is 88 years old, why do we need that information on a supposedly hip medium to reach younger people? Strange.

I wasn't a fan of all the ads on MySpace either. My space instantly had a picture of someone else's rear end with an ad for Apple Pants or something on it. This doesn't seem very professional if that's where I end up putting info about my business.

Trivia: only one other person from my high school class has a Facebook page.