How to be an Adult in Your Own Space, not MySpace: or Do Our "Kids" Need Us as Parents?
Submitted by tiahedmunsonmorton on Wed, 2007-03-07 01:09.
As the parent of a lively 3 year old, in the midst of her "challenge authority" and "explore boundaries" stage of life, I spend a lot of my "free" time brainstorming parenting strategies with my husband. We see ourselves as generals engaged in a battle. This is not because we see childhood/parenthood as a war, but because we feel like we need to have a strategy, a plan for how we are going to deal with whatever she throws at us with a unified (consistent) front. What does this have to do with MySpace and Facebook? Well, I have had these thoughts running through my head over the last few days as I am doing the reading for this week: "why do we want to be there?' and "do we have any business in their private space?" and "do I want to be their mom?" and “do they need me to be their mom?”
I have to be frank here: 75% of me thinks this is a creepy invasion of privacy and an intrusion into a space where teens and college students don't need us to be (but more on that later). Of course, that leaves the 25% that says "yes, we do need to be there." We need to be there like Cornell (Thoughts on Facebook) is there to put social networking software in perspective for its students; not to scare them, but to bring reality into their frame of vision and say this:
“Think about not only your marketability today as a cool guy or girl in your college social circle, but who you might want to be in five or ten years when posting an ‘identity’ on the Internet.”
We can be involved, as educators, in a way that allows us to guide the youth of today into a more thoughtful and responsible use of interactive tools. This, of course, isn't limited to Facebook or MySpace, but extends to the larger issue of how people are presenting themselves on the web, whether it's through blog posts ("what did I say?!?") to Flickr pics ("what color was my hair and why didn't I have a shirt on?!?") to identities/profiles in Second Life ("why did I give myself horns?!?"). We could be like the Lonely Planet guide through Cyberspace, providing updates on public bathrooms, cheap eats, and where it's better to buy bottled water. And, I suppose, I am more comfortable with the idea of us as guides, but, for me, the lines start to blur when we become companions.
When we are becoming "friends" (i.e. suggesting books based on a patrons profile), I feel like we move from outreach to interference. And yes, intellectually, I understand that we are providing another portal for our users to reach us, just like attending a college fair or driving a Bookmobile into a neighborhood; but emotionally, I can't quite get behind it. It doesn't feel right to use this space another avenue for market research!
Rather than cutting and pasting the entire article by Danah Boyd (Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace), I'll give the link and say "see here and pay close attention to the three important classes of space: public, private, and controlled." Why do we have to make this (MySpace, Facebook) one more controlled space? Why can't we leave it to the teens or univ. students as a place without authority? Allow it to be an uninhibited and uncontrolled space where people don't need to worry about how to do research or whether the college administration is watching out for underage drinkers.
I know, libraries have been "friended" and there seems to be a "need" for information in a space/format that is digestible by the Millennials... But... And SecondLife... Well, I guess I'm a traditionalist Gen-X'r: excited by the possibilities, but nervous about the implications. I want to be there, be involved, and yes, be cool, but I also want to be mindful of my role and place in the social software world.
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Another extremely thoughtful
Another extremely thoughtful post.
The compromise I have come to on this issue is presenting myself in these spaces as "a person who happens to have a particular job." It's okay for me to have a Facebook -- I went to college and I work at one! It's okay for me to hang out in the LiveJournal groups for the place I work. But I do so as Dorothea Salo, not The Librarian.
Every now and again I do put on the librarian hat; if somebody posts a ref question on LJ, heck yeah I'm going to do my bit to answer it! But mostly I'm just another person.
I think the GMU LJ community was a little leery of me at first. But when I didn't bust them for posting about parties (which is WAY outside my brief as a librarian IMO), and I didn't hijack their space all the time to post library marketing (true story: a student posted about GMU's new IM reference service before I could!), they were cool with it.
I should possibly add that I
I should possibly add that I don't join sites I don't already have a presence on just to Spread The Library Message. I don't exist on MySpace, for example, because MySpace just isn't my kind of space.
But if I'm there anyway (as I am on LiveJournal), I don't see any reason to bar myself from otherwise-normal participation in a community just because I'm a librarian.
"Every now and again I do
"Every now and again I do put on the librarian hat; if somebody posts a ref question on LJ, heck yeah I'm going to do my bit to answer it! But mostly I'm just another person."
I think this is completely reasonable, it's not like we chuck our identities at the door!
Who knows where the line in the sand is between participation and interference: it's probably always shifting. On the same note, our role is probably always evolving-- as it should. That's what makes being in this field so interesting, right? We're in a profession that allows us to interact, as educators, but most of us don't have to grade papers!
Heh heh heh. Yep. I TAed
Heh heh heh. Yep. I TAed Spanish in graduate school. Grading is a horrible thing...
I still have (idealistic)
I still have (idealistic) moments when I want to teach undergrads, then my husband entertains me with tales of grading Writing 121 papers on Scooby Doo. That usually does the trick to drain that desire.
As is frequently the case, I
As is frequently the case, I agree with Dorothea. I have a Facebook account that I use a little bit. But I don't think it is my role to go looking at random people's profiles. A few students have found me on there and friended me and a few have contacted me through that profile when they found that I like similar music to them.
But I'm on there as myself, not as my library. I don't search students out and send them friend requests (though I have done that for staff and faculty at my school , and for librarians at other institutions).
The general rule I follow in
The general rule I follow in social networking sites is: "if I wouldn't do it in life, then I shouldn't do it online". For instance, I wouldn't interrupt students as they were eating their lunch, gossiping about folks in their classes, their night out drinking, etc., introduce myself as their librarian and ask if I can help them with their research. So, I certainly wouldn't pop into their social spaces online and do the same. ... But they are certainly welcome to find me in Facebook and message me for assistance... just as they are welcome to email me, phone me, approach me at the reference desk, etc.
I like this rule of thumb.
I like this rule of thumb. So simple, but I think keeping it in mind can keep us from doing really dorky things in social networking sites!
This is a great post, Tiah,
This is a great post, Tiah, and really brings up the complicated issues involved in going into another space to provide library services. Yesterday, I was at the chat with Beth Evans, creator of the Brooklyn College Library's MySpace page, which to me is a great example of creating a portal to library services. However, I learned some things about what they do that I personally would not feel comfortable doing at my library. For example, they went out and friended 2,000 people from the school on their own, rather than waiting for the students to friend them. They send out messages to their "friends", which is something I also would not feel comfortable doing. But a lot of it does depend on the population; maybe they are ok with it in Brooklyn but wouldn't be in Vermont or Nebraska or DC or whatever. You really have to know your population if you're going to do something that forward. I also would not feel comfortable with the "ubiquitous reference model" of looking at students blogs or profiles and "proactively" providing reference assistance based on what they write. While, yes, there is always some blurring of personal and school/work, it may be more blurring than some people are comfortable with. And we don't want to alienate our patrons.
I like the idea of hanging a shingle in these spaces and letting the students come to us if they want to. I love what Library Director, Oceana Wilson, did with her profile at Bennington College (see this post I wrote last year for a screenshot and the text of an e-mail Oceana wrote to me -- used with permission of course!). No one has to ever see her profile or whatever unless they choose to. And she is providing a useful service in creating a space where students feel more comfortable requesting books. I also like the idea of providing a portal to library services. If students rarely visit our library Web pages, why not link to our collections and services where our patrons are? They don't have to friend us and they don't have to visit, but we are more visible there than we are just sitting there on our Website waiting for someone to visit. I see it as being very similar to having a library presence in WebCT (though this is obviously a more social space) in that you are making library collections and services that much easier to access. It's outreach.
I think there is a way to provide outreach without being obtrusive and without actually needing to contact our students at all. They can choose to come to us. I don't think there is any control involved in that. I personally would draw the line when it comes to friending other students (without them friending you first) and seeking out other students' profiles to provide reference or to see what they're into. But we all seem to draw lines in different places. I think the best thing you can do is find out what students think about doing something like this before you delve into their spaces. If they're ok with it, which many are, great! If they think it's a violation of their space, you may want to rethink it.
You are absolutely right to consider these issues. They should give us pause. I think too many libraries just dive in without wondering if their population is ok with them being there.
Thanks for your thoughts on
Thanks for your thoughts on this. For some, this is one of the only areas of social software that really gives me pause...
I thought of something as I was reading Meredith's post: the term for inviting someone into your "Space" (for lack of a better word), is "friend." Is that what we're trying to be? Is that what we should be? And really, I am just asking-- this isn't *too* much of a loaded question. :)
I lean the same way as
I lean the same way as Meredith, Dorothea, and Steve. It is ok to be there, but as an individual. Libraries who have corporate accounts in MySpace and Facebook are fine too depending on how they use the space, INHO. Sending blanket messages about library services to my "friends" is a bit over the line, especially if the friends did not do the approaching. If I were to receive such a thing, it would rank right up there with junk mail to me.
Tiah, you ask if we should be their friends. It is a loaded question, but a good one. I think we should be the adult, the educator. Every parent and teacher knows that to be a student's friend more then the adult means that you will lose control of things eventually. We have to find and define the grey line in the middle when we use social networking software.
Reaching out to befriend
Reaching out to befriend people in MySpace should probably not be seen as inappropriate or unwelcome behavior in MySpace. This is one of the key ways people connect in MySpace and expect people to connect with them. It would probably be seen as more odd by the people who spend time in MySpace if someone invited them to become friends through some other mechanism, such a nice pleasant, innocuous poster on a bulletin board (that is not often read). Also, keep in mind, when invited to be a friend, you can ignore the invitation or even block the person inviting you if you want to.
I remember being at a library meeting one day where the director made the comment, "the days of 'build it and they will come'" are gone for libraries. This comment was made in the context of our needing to push our electronic resources more. With students now often seeing google as the only library they ever need, hanging around, waiting for them to find us should not be seen as our only option.
When I first introduced the concept of putting our library on MySpace, the one objection I heard was something to the effect that it wasn't what a library looked like to be hanging around in MySpace. So I asked, what exactly does a library look like? Staying tied to the idea that a library and librarians are locked into an a certain image or certain types of behavior may leave us in places no one frequents without anyone there to benefit from our good behavior. Do we want to live those stereotypic images of librarians as shy people sitting quietly at a desk waiting for a question?
Here's a very small but reasonable example of how we will find ourselves often in unexpected, but necessary roles. This just happened to me five minutes ago at the reference desk. A student came in looking for an event she needed to see for her class in our auditorium. She was late. She was embarrassed about going in the front door. She started to say that she would rather not even go than be late. I suggested to her that the back door I knew of, that most people don't know is there, might be open and I'd let her in. She remained reluctant and fearful, but I walked her over and walked her into the auditorium, figuring she would gain more from the time seeing at least a part of what the teacher wanted her to see than not going in at all.
So, what was my role there? Librarian? Not really. Mom? Well, maybe. But mostly I was an encouraging, supportive adult who steered a student in the right direction. If I had felt it was more important to stay in my role as reference desk librarian and stay behind the desk, the student would have been the one to lose.
Everyday we are asked to be something we not always saw ourselves as being.
Keep in mind, too, that many people today do not see boundaries as clearly as others may have some time ago. Their online activity so clearly indicates the lack of boundaries -- talk on cell phone while IM'ing two friends, surfing the web and typing paper for a class. It all happens together.
It may be a regional issue, as you point out, Meredith. I do live in the city where bright pink hair and multiple facial piercings never turns heads. So for our students, a library popping up in MySpace, pink hair or not, is no big deal.
Interesting discussion.
Beth
Beth: thanks for the
Beth: thanks for the feedback. I'll admit that I latched onto your ideas about what a library/librarian "looks" like, and am going to write about that in this post.
Staying tied to the idea that a library and librarians are locked into a certain image or certain types of behavior may leave us in places no one frequents without anyone there to benefit from our good behavior. Do we want to live those stereotypic images of librarians as shy people sitting quietly at a desk waiting for a question?
I don't know if the outcome of our participation in social networking sites is this instrumental to our survival as an institution, but I do think we should examine what our own participation/interest/curiosity says about us and think about how that impacts the public perception of a library, archive, special collection, or museum, etc. What do we look like? And what should we look like? And what do we consider when building our image? Others have discussed their own mindfulness in separating their individual and professional personas, which has been really interesting to read about.
Dorothea says: Every now and again I do put on the librarian hat; if somebody posts a ref question on LJ, heck yeah I'm going to do my bit to answer it! But mostly I'm just another person ... if I'm there anyway ... I don't see any reason to bar myself from otherwise-normal participation in a community just because I'm a librarian.
And Steve says: But I'm on there as myself, not as my library.
Linda's is one I think is really helpful, quite like the Golden Rule: if I wouldn't do it in life, then I shouldn't do it online.
I've written about this before, but, as cliché as this is, I want to provide what I think is a realistic image of what archives are and what archivists do. I want to show that this place is alive-- soften the stereotype, if you will. There has to be a place for us in between "what do you mean you don't digitize everything and you can’t find it for me in less than 3 minutes?" and "how can you find anything in all those boxes?" And maybe being involved in these online communities is just one more way to do this?
Both Beth and Meredith aptly address this when they talk about knowing our user populations and what would be "acceptable" to them. Perhaps it's been too long since I've been a reference librarian, rather than a reference archivist, and I haven't actually tested this hypothesis, but I don't see that our undergrads would be too keen on the Archives showing up in MySpace. Frankly, I don't think most of them need to do in depth primary research and I don't think most of them want to do it. Grad students and faculty, maybe... but it's hard to tell.
Where I do think it would work for us would be with the communities outside the walls of the university. I'm thinking about genealogy researchers and members of historical/heritage societies. Reaching out to them, in their online communities, may work. I don't know if there is such a thing, but I have a hunch, at least for the genealogists, the answer is yes.
Another avenue for exploration, albeit one outside of this MySpace/Facebook discussion, is Flickr. I've talked about the "amateur" archivists and am keen to explore Flickr in a more systematic way (can one do a “systematic” examination of Flickr?) to see what people call "archives" and how people are using "archival" materials the site. A quick search last night revealed what looked like old papers and historical buildings, but I think the trend toward putting personal photos online is something archivists need to consider. How different will our university photo collection look in 50 years?
I'm glad this post spurred some discussion. Thanks to everyone for their interesting contributions!
Archives and Museums on
Archives and Museums on MySpace
This has been a good discussion, Tiah.
As an archivist, you might find these MySpace profiles interesting:
Brooklyn Historical Society
City Reliquary
This site has a number of links to museum sites. Archives, in ways, may have as much in common with museums as they have with libraries.
Museums on Myspace
Also has links to museums with myspace profiles.
Good luck with the efforts. Flickr sounds like a great option.
Beth
Wow Beth! Those are so cool!
Wow Beth! Those are so cool! Thanks for the link. :)
This blog post has really becomes its very own discussion board!
I really like the City
I really like the City Reliquary site-- what a great thing to see feedback & story sharing! Everyone, check out the Mattress Factory: they have their own soundtrack. Makes me wonder what ours would be...
Thanks for these Beth, they are all so unique and, honestly, quite fun.
MySpace - Amusement &
MySpace - Amusement & Authority
I have to giggle when I read the following on the City Reliquary site:
"Displayed artifacts include the odd and intriguing among many diverse objects which, through their thoughtful arrangement, entice passersby to learn more about the rich history of the area..."
Kinda reminds me of what it's like riding in a NYC subway car!
My own comment makes me think of one of the funniest MySpace profiles I ever came across was the one for the NYC metro card (for those unfamiliar with NYC, the fare card the City uses).
Metro Card
What this site really gets a librarian thinking about is issues of authority (who exactly put up this site? The Metropolitan Transit Authority? Someone else? Is it sanctioned or approved? Who knows?). Reminds us of the trademark issues that came up when the web first came along and those smart people who went out in 1990 something and gobbled up domain names like www.coke.com (or whatever it was), knowing that they could then turn around and sell them to coca cola for big bucks.
One of the amusements of MySpace is doing a search on some benign word (try, for example, iphone, or put in the name of your favorite sports team) and then see how many hits come up. Then try figuring out which is the "real" site.
One of the most impressive college-connected MySpace profiles is one that is up for Ohio State University. They've got over 22,000 friends. As it turns out, this is not a site provided by OSU. An alum got it started, the school took a look, and figured no harm done and let them alone.
Beth
First off, the Metro Card
First off, the Metro Card site is really funny! I just sent it off to some friends I knew would appreciate it! Again, love the music...
And thanks for giving me a jumping off point for today's random blogpost about... authority.
What this site really gets a librarian thinking about is issues of authority
Control of information, authority, authenticity, reality, archive, permanence-- these are all things I have been thinking about for awhile, and on a relatively frequent basis. In both archival processing and archival reference—the two ends of the spectrum in archives, with description in the middle—we, literally, control information. Sometimes, if I’m not being too dramatic here, it’s a big overwhelming to think about the responsibility!
And then, added to the mix, we have the issue of electronic records… They have their own set of concerns about permanence and accessibility, and authenticity. When is a signature a signature?!? I know there are electronic watermarks, but will that be enough for us to guarantee authenticity?
Now… Well, what do we do with Flickr? MySpace!? Blogs!?! Wikis!?!? The punctuation and my hysteria are mounting! In all seriousness, what will a manuscript collection look like in 25 years? A diploma? A letter? The dynamic nature of these “documents” and the perpetual beta mode of these sites makes me wonder: when is something actually considered archival? If, by definition, an archival document is something that is no longer “in use,” will anything in this new medium (for lack of a better word popping into my mind), be something worth saving?
More questions: how proactive do we have to be, as archivists, in gathering these “materials” from the web? What is our role or responsibility when the very nature of these posts/profiles/communities is temporary or transient? The Oregon Multicultural Archives (a part of the OSU Libraries) recently received a collection of materials documenting the history of Urban League of Portland (Oregon). I haven’t had a chance to look through the materials myself, but have been told that this collection is significant as a window into race issues/relations in the Portland Metro area and consists of everything a researcher would expect: publications, annual reports, minutes of its board meetings, news releases, photographs, and news clippings files. It is these last two that are at the heart of this example: realistically, how do we capture these ephemeral moments? Is it best to shift our notion of what is valuable, historic and, frankly, worth collecting in these evanescent times?
I don’t know, but I’m sure this is something I’ll continue to fret over!
I think the extent to which
I think the extent to which archives will work with online materials will really depend on institutional objectives and priorities. But I think (or at least I hope) that it will become more of a priority. A big push at Norwich is to collect just about everything our president has published. But they just mean the stuff on paper, not the things he has published in the academic portal or e-mails. And I worry about that. Where will those essential pieces of the University's history go as one story on the portal disappears and another takes its place? Why are we not saving these things?
I've thought about this with blogs too. While people can say what they will about the merits of blogs, they constitute a real cultural record of our times. Heck, Reference and User Services Quarterly is now publishing itself on a blog as well and there are Nobel prize-winners blogging their thoughts on various issues! There is a lot of value to what is being published via these tools. Will these be collected and preserved? I worry that we could face losing huge amounts of our culture and history if digital archiving and preservation is not made a priority (not just with blogs, but with all online formats).
One thing I am pretty sure of, Tiah, is that no matter how things change in the world of archives and the technologies used to serve your users, you will be able to keep up. You have a curiosity and an interest in learning that is essential to providing the best services in a rapidly changing information environment.
Thanks! I sure hope
Thanks! I sure hope so...
Actually, blogs have become something that I see as a pretty amazing means of recording information, sharing thoughts, and generally chatting about the stuff in my own head. They seem so complex and vaguely defined. Are they a publication, a journal, correspondence, a memo? What do we do with them??? We had a printed out version of a blog donated to the Archives and I had an interesting with a colleague about what it was: manuscript, publication, or other? As an archivist, "other" = "miscellaneous" = "meaningless."
So what do we do? I don't make policy and I may or may not have anything more than a little influence over such things? Is it enough to keep up and stay a part of the conversation? Is it our ethical responsibility to do more?