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Week 4: Social Networking, Flickr & MMOGs

Submitted by hyager on Fri, 2006-09-22 22:39.

Week of March 5th, 2007

Introduction

This week, we will be discussing Social Networking Software, Massively Multiplayer Online Games/Online Worlds and Flickr. By the end of the week you should:

  • Understand what Flickr is and why it is different from traditional photo-sharing sites.
  • Understand how "community" is developed in Flickr
  • Know how libraries are using Flickr to provide services and market services.
  • Understand what social networking sites are and how they are different from traditional online communities.
  • Understand the controversies surrounding social networking sites and actions some schools and libraries have taken against social networking sites.
  • Understand how Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds work and why they are so popular.
  • Understand why and how libraries are providing services in social networking sites and Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds.


Presentations

Webcast - March 6, 7:00 pm Eastern: Flickr + Libraries - Steve Lawson, Humanities Librarian, Tutt Library, Colorado College and Michael Porter, WebJunction

Webcast - March 8, 2:00 pm Eastern: Get a Second Life: Virtual Worlds and Interactive Media in Libraries - Kelly Czarnecki, Teen Librarian, ImaginOn, the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and Matt Gullett, Technology Education Librarian, ImaginOn, the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Podcast: Flickr as a Training Tool - Lauren Pressley, Microtext Specialist, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University


Click To Play

 

Screencast: Mingle! Mingle! Or, How to Mix with Library Users in Myspace, Embrace Every Opportunity to Get Out the "Library Message" in New Ways and Not Spill Your Drink in the Process ( via streaming server - faster for those on slow connections | blip.tv file - you will need to click "Full-screen" and then click on the little play button in the full-screen window to watch) - Beth Evans, Reference Librarian, Brooklyn College Library

Podcast: Taking part: social software initiatives at the National Library of Australia - Matthew Stuckings, National Library of Australia.


Click To Play

 

Presenter chats

Chats take place in the main Drupal chatroom.

  • Beth Evans - Tuesday, March 6, 1:00 PM EST
  • Lauren Pressley - Wednesday, March 7, 11:00 AM EST
  • Matthew Stuckings - Tuesday, March 6, 5:00 PM EST; 2:00 PM PST (nb. it will be Wednesday, March 7, 9:00 AM AEDST in Canberra, Australia, where I am)

 


Technologies and Activities

Flickr

SecondLife

MySpace

Facebook

Activities

For the social networking portion, you can do one of three activities:

For the Flickr portion of the week, please choose one of three activities:

  • Explore Flickr - What do they tell you about themselves? Search for photos of things, places, or colors you like or check out their "interesting photos" option.
  • Create a Flickr account - it is free! Locate a group you could contribute to, like the Libraries and Librarians Pool, the Mastiff Pool, or another group you find interesting and join them.
  • Create a Flickr account - create an account and locate someone who you know in real life, online, or just someone whose photos you like and make them a contact.

Don't forget! Your proposals are due at the end of the day on Monday, March 12th.


Readings

Please read these as your interests dictate and as time allows. These are not strictly required, but will aid you in your understanding of the subject.

Social Networking Software

"The MySpace Generation." Business Week.
Great article chronicling the rise of MySpace and how businesses are using it as a marketing tool.

Danah Boyd. "Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace" American Association for the Advancement of Science.
This rough transcript of a talk Danah Boyd gave seeks to understand the psychological and sociological motivations behind the MySpace phenomenon.

Beth Evans."Your Space or MySpace" LibraryJournal
This article describes the Brooklyn College Library's efforts to provide a portal to library services inside of MySpace.

Jill Stover. "Long Overdue Post About Library Marketing in Online Communities." Library Marketing: Thinking Outside the Book.
This blog post explores the pros and cons of building library presence in social networking software.

Meredith Farkas. "Libraries in Social Networking Software." Information Wants To Be Free.
A post examining many of the issues others have discussed regarding libraries and social networking software. Also includes links to lots of other blog posts and articles on the subject.

Stacey Greenwell. "Library's Facebook Profile Shut Down." Blogging Section of SLA-IT.
Discusses how Facebook is deleting the profiles of libraries because profiles are supposed to be for individuals.

Wade Roush. "The Moral Panic Over Social Networking Sites." MIT Technology Review.
Article about the moral panic over social networking sites and describes DOPA and what this piece of legislation seeks to accomplish.

Joanne Barrett. "Social Networking: A New Tech Tool and a New Security Concern for Teens and Schools." Multimedia and Internet in Schools.
Surveys the issues surrounding the use of social networking sites in K-12 schools, including blocking the sites entirely.

David Epstein. "Cleaning Up Their Online Acts." Inside HigherEd.
Article about how students are posting things on their profiles that could have serious consequences in their future.

Fred Stutzman. "How University Administrators Should Approach the Facebook" Unit Structures.
Good advice for college administrators regarding Facebook.

Cornell University IT Policy Office. "Thoughts on Facebook" Cornell University
Common sense and balanced (not alarmist) advice for students posting personal information on Facebook and other social networking sites. Chronicles some of the consequences total disclosure may have later on in the job hunt and how things posted on their profile are not private.

Flickr

Katharine Mieszkowski. “The Friendster of Photo Sites” Salon.
This Salon article talks about some of the unique things about Flickr that have made it so popular with users.

Wikipedia. “Flickr”
Contains a good summary on how Flickr got started.

Michael Stephens. “Ten More Reasons to Use Flickr in Your Libraries” Tame the Web.
Ten more things libraries are doing with Flickr. Be sure to read the link to the original 10 reasons to use Flickr in your library. These two posts contain some fabulous library innovations with Flickr.

Michael Stephens. “Flickr + Libraries = Scary, Scary, Scary to Some Folks” ALA TechSource Blog.
Michael discusses how DOPA and other misunderstandings can cause problems for libraries using Flickr. He gives great examples of libraries using Flickr in unique ways and how librarians can combat the fear of Flickr in their community.

 

Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds

Matt Gross. "It's My (Virtual) World" New York Times.
New York Times article offers a very good description of SecondLife and how real-world companies are using it as a marketing vehicle and even to make real-life money.

Constance Steinkuehler and Demitri Williams. "Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name:Online Games as "Third Places." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Interesting scholarly discussion of online games being used as "hang outs" in the place of the traditional "third place".

Lori Bell, Tom Peters and Kitty Pope. "Enjoying Your First Life? Why Not Add a Second? Developing Library Services in Second Life" Serious Game Source.
Article about providing library services in Second Life from the folks at the Second Life Library 2.0.

Second Life Education Wiki.
Wiki looking at how SecondLife could be used in the educational world.

InfoIsland.
Blog of the folks behind the Second Life Library 2.0

"Second Life Library 2.0" MySpace.
MySpace page for the Second Life Library 2.0. They have some cool video tours of Info Island on there.

"Gaming." Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
You can get an idea of what some libraries are doing with games (circulating games, gaming programs, etc.)


Examples

Here are examples of libraries using the technologies and of some of the tools libraries are using to make this happen.

Libraries

Libraries Building Presence in MySpace

Libraries in Flickr

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