I never imagined that I would be writing that headline. I have been on Twitter/X since 2007. I have used it not only regularly, but heavily. It has been instrumental for professional connections and communication…
Comments closedCategory: social media
Very recently, I made the reluctant decision to stop doing webinars focused on tracking social media metrics. The topic was one that has made me uneasy for a while, but there seemed to be at…
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Like many, I’m torn between moving to Mastodon for principled reasons and the need to maintain existing communities.
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Libraries can provide services to many different populations. As library staff, we often want to help as many people, in as many different ways, as possible. While this is admirable, it’s hardly realistic, particularly when…
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What we’re seeing now, though represents a huge shift in how even the social media platforms themselves are viewing low-level (often referred to as “vanity”) metrics.
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For the past couple of months, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a small, selective cohort of library staff from public libraries in Tennessee. Each week, we look at important concepts in social media…
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It is part of the global Internet infrastructure now. Safiya Noble, a University of Southern California professor and author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism I often fantasize about deleting my Facebook account. I…
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(Read Part I here) The decline of sharing In his 2015 book The Content Code, Mark W. Schaefer points out that even great content isn’t enough. “But epic content simply earns a seat at the…
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INTRODUCTION For the past few years, the vast majority of news from the social media realm has been in a positive vein. Popular formats and platforms. Demographic shifts between channels. Social media influencers. And, overarching…
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It’s no longer a novelty for a library to be visible online: it’s a necessity. It’s time to level up how we present our libraries online, because “doing social media” doesn’t cut it.
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What are your library’s social media goals? At first glance, the answer to that question might not seem all that difficult. And, if I ask you (or other library staff) this question, you might come…
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I get to present workshops and courses fairly often, especially on social media-related topics (when you write books about a subject, people generally want you to talk about that subject). One question that has come…
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A common question from librarians is “Where are the kids online?” Of course, the answer to this question changes regularly. Teens shift their allegiances to social media channels periodically (remember when all the teens were on…
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Because, numbers. Do any of these numbers change how you think about your library’s social media strategy? Facebook: Facebook’s monthly active user base is expected to surpass 1.43 billion in the first quarter of 2015.…
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I spend a lot of time on Twitter. Nevertheless, it is a tricky social media tool to get right. Things move so quickly, and engagement is perhaps more elusive than on some other platforms. I’m always…
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Don Yarman is the Deputy Director at the Delaware County District Library in Ohio. I’ve known Don for more than a decade, and one of his most endearing traits is his ability to speak truth…
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So…you probably already know that social media has become increasingly visual. Images and photos typically get more engagement than plain text. But, what if you don’t have a fun photo to share? What if you…
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As many of you already know, I spend a lot of time looking at research as it pertains to the use of social media. Honestly, it’s a frustrating business. The information changes constantly, and there’s…
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Last fall, I was tasked with trying to pull in all of the social media stuff tagged with a state convention’s hashtag into one, easy-to-digest display. My was first thought was along the lines of…
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“Any suggestions on how to get more followers? I’d like to get more for the [insert social media site here] account I created. Thanks!” I see a fair number of this kind of question on…
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Don’t get me wrong: I love Pinterest. I have spent countless hours curating interesting content, trying Pinterest recipes and crafts and admiring inspirational posters and the creativity of others. However, when it comes to libraries…
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The fact that social media has pretty much gone over to images shouldn’t be a surprise; with the rise of Pinterest, Vine, Instagram, animated GIFs and even the Edgerank algorithm that Facebook uses to prioritize…
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Yes, Sulia is yet another social network. However, unlike many of its brethren, Sulia makes no attempt to promote itself as the “next Facebook” or a “Twitter-killer.” Which is a positive, since its chances of…
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The answer to that question is, in short: Sorta. Kinda. Maybe. This week, Facebook announced a new feature for Facebook Profiles (individual users–people–not Facebook Pages for brands/organizations). Users now have the option to “promote” their…
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I know, it’s convenient to use the exact same, exact content for your library’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. And, yes, I know social media takes a lot of time! But, if it’s worth doing, it’s…
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Love it or hate it, yet another major Facebook shift is upon us–the advent of the Facebook Timeline format for Pages (it’s already been involved with our personal profiles for some time, as Facebook time…
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Every so often, a new social media site starts to make the rounds on the hype circuit. The latest of these is a new service called Pinterest. Pinterest is still in beta, and is…
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Google Plus has been around for at least five months or so, and has taken off faster than any other social network ever has. Meanwhile, companies and organizations have been waiting anxiously for the service…
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I want to admit this, right up front. This is more of a rant than my usual, more considered posts. I want you to stop checking into your own library on Foursquare. Or Gowalla. Or…
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Quora is somewhat new (heck, it barely left beta 6 months ago), but already has gained major traction. Wikipedia describes Quora as an “online knowledge market. ” If you’re familiar with Yahoo! Answers or Ask…
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