Ah, Facebook...I've had my Facebook since the days when it was only open to a few select colleges. I mainly used it to keep up with Fraternity folks across the country. Eventually, when it opened up to everyone else, I discovered a world of reconnecting with childhood friends and keeping in touch with everyone. My roommate skillfully used it to stalk people she had just met the day before at parties and bars. (Okay, she didn't really "stalk" people. But it's funny to think that nowadays, you pretty much just need a first and last name and in less than 24 hours of meeting someone you know who their friends are, what they like to do, and even what they're doing right now! There are countless days when I would come home to learn random information about her new "friends"..."Alex's favorite band is Maroon 5 and he just found a stray kitten. His 2 older sisters are visiting for the holidays this year and he needs help taking out a rival maifa member." And I would wonder--Wait? I thought you just met Alex yesterday when he passed the salt at a friend's party--and that was pretty much the extent of your conversation. )
I missed the days where getting to know someone actually took some sort of finesse...where you actually had conversations with questions and answers and over time you got to piece together your knowledge of someone based on your real-life interactions with them. I also missed the days when you actually hung out with your friends instead of farming next to them via internet. Which is why I deleted my account at the beginning of this month. Amazingly, since deleting my account, I've had the chance to hang out with people again! It's amazing how technology brings us closer together but at the same time can cause us to drift apart. Too often, I took advantage of the fact that people were on my "Friends List", so there was no need to give them a call. I could always "poke" them or just say hi on their page.
As for organizations that I was a fan of, most of them were great about posting with status updates regularly. I must admit, I'm going to miss knowing when a food demonstration was going on at Whole Foods or what kind of fun I can expect for the next episode of The Office. Still, I think I'll manage to survive without Facebook.
I think the Frisco Public Library does an excellent job of doing regular status updates. If this is a way we wish to regularly communicate with our patrons, perhaps we should advertise it around the library to increase the number of people who "Like" us. Walmart, for example, has a HUGE ad at the bottom of their receipts so people can go to their Facebook page. We could do something like that...or at the bottom of e-mails we send out include our Facebook link. Another suggestion may be to add status updates that prompt those who like us to comment. For example, "Would you like the library to send out e-mail notification that your items are due in ___ days? And also include a link to renew items?"
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