Using social media to promote libraries.

If there is a catch phrase for our latest decade, it is social media.  While we are all familiar with this media and its various forms, the utilization of technology to create interest and mobilize folks is gaining momentum. 

The first eye-opener was the election of President Obama.  During the Presidential campaign, "Hillary Clinton's camp had about 20,000 volunteers at work in Texas. But in an e-mail, ["Internet impresario"] Trippi learned that 104,000 Texans had joined Obama's social-­networking site, www.my.barackobama.com, known as MyBO. MyBO and the main Obama site had already logged their share of achievements, particularly in helping rake in cash. The month before, the freshman senator from Illinois had set a record in American politics by garnering $55 million in donations in a single month. In Texas, MyBO also gave the Obama team the instant capacity to wage fully networked campaign warfare. After seeing the volunteer numbers, Trippi says, "I remember saying, 'Game, match--it's over.'" http://www.technologyreview.com/web/21222/?a=f

The second eye-opener was the price assigned to social networks by Wall Street.  Depending on your source, these estimates are staggering;  Facebook ($80 Billion), Zynga ($5 Billion), and LinkedIn ($2 Billion) just to name a few.   This implies that there is "capital" intrinsic to social networks.

The final eye-opener was this weeks riots in Egypt which promoted the government to shut down access to the Internet and email.   This implies that there is "power" intrinsic in online communications, especially in the dissemination of information.

So, when perusing the blogs which I am subscribed to, I was taken aback when reading this very skeptical post regarding mobilization of communities to promote libraries using social media.

Mr Tay writes, "I think he has a point, does 15,000 fans of "save library X" fanpage really help if most just click "like" and forget about it?  Does that sway the powers that be? More to the point, in this day and age, does having 15,000 fans of "Save a library" with no other action really make sufficient news for traditional mass media to take notice and help to spread the word out? I don't know. In recent months, I have noticed however a couple of campaigns that seem to have resulted in actions that go beyond the purely online realm." http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2011/01/4-successful-social-media-campaigns-for.html

Social media was instrumental in the election of Barack Obama, it is very valuable as a consumed item and it is clearly feared by those who govern by fiat.  In conclusion, when harnessed correctly, social media is precisely the avenue which should be chosen by libraries to plead their case.  As a phenomenon, it is clearly the newest incarnation of the old adage, "the pen is mightier than the sword".