FaceBook Makes NewsWeek Cover; Can It Stay Relevant?
+ Facebook Grows Up (The Newsweek Cover Story)
We think Levy makes a good point, can Facebook stay "cool" and "relevant?" Said another way, is this the latest fad? Not that services like this will go away but will every few months something new will become the "hip" place to post material? What we also think is important to remember that if you take services like Facebook, tools like RSS, other geek resources, you're only reaching a very small amount of Internet users (5% or so) and probably even fewer library users. One thing we do know is that services that save people time, effort and aggravation will survive in the long run. It's essential that librarians don't forget that not everyone (even likely candidates) use these services and "old skool" services like email still can play a role. Perhaps we also need to think how to use a technology (like RSS) by making it invisible to the end user. In other words, embed the technology into the content. We've always thought that RSS and mobile would work well together. Last week, we posted about a simple (and free) way you can take an RSS feed and with two clicks create a nice looking PDF document. The service comes from xFruits who offer a number of useful ways to make RSS cool and useful even for the non-geek.
Things to think about (we don't have the answers).
1) Final thoughts, has the search issue (making content easily retrievable, accessible, and not aggravating) complete, easy to use and ready for any user. Is it time for librarians to just move on.
2) Where do critical info skills come into play. Are they being taught? Aren't critical info skills more important know than ever before?
3) Are services like Facebook the citizens band radio of the 21st Century? In other words, Facebook is HOT today but what about six months from now. Are we always waiting for the next big thing? What happens if people/groups make their Facebook profiles private, shared only with friends and colleagues? Btw, wasn't MySpace receiving this same type of attention just a few months ago? What about LinkedIn?
4) The technology isn't the answer, it's just a tool.
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