Ten Social Networking Tips for Libraries

Part of Library 2.0 is social software, and as more and more libraries put themselves out there on social networks it becomes increasingly important that we do so in a way that works well for ourselves and for our users. How can we best take advantage of these community building tools?

1. Do your research.  To make sure that you know what you're doing, research all the features that are available.  Explore all the different ways you can use the social network using their different applications or add-ons.  Read the FAQs, the How to's, the terms and conditions, and the privacy policy.  And find other libraries that are using the network to see what they're doing!  A lot of good ideas can cross-pollinate that way.  Really make sure that you're comfortable with the system and using it to the best of its abilities.
2. Keep your information current.  Whatever service you are using (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) it is essential that you keep the information on your site current and accurate and that you keep the new information flowing.  Whatever areas are update-able (blog posts, alerts, etc.), add something new frequently - at least once a week.  If you don't keep the new info rolling, those friends you worked so hard to make won't have anything new to look at, will have no reason to go back to your site to look at it, and thereby you're kind of missing the whole point of using this kind of tool for outreach.  If you alone can't find the time to update it frequently, split the duties up throughout the staff - one person for every few days perhaps.  Something short, no need to be fancy, but something new.  Having a stale, never-updated social networking site is just as bad as having a never-updated blog.  It makes your library look worse than if you never had one at all.
3. Use a photo of a real live person.  Please be as lively as possible - this is "social" networking after all.  At best, use a photo of a real librarian or some cool tricked out avatar you create to be your virtual face-piece on all social networking sites.  At second best, try your library's logo.  If all else fails, try a photo of your library building.  But...the building shouldn't be your first choice.  It says "hey, we're about bricks & mortar!"
4. Feel free to have an alias. While it's great if the users can see a real live person behind the library's profile (meaning a real name and a real face), there's no rule that says you can't have a generic "librarian" identity that you use to create the profile and content.  I've heard more than once about libraries whose staff are afraid to (or, outright refuse to) use social networks for the library because they don't want their personal names out there.  OK.  Fine.  Have "Suzy Librarian" and "Steve Librarian" instead.  To me it's not ideal, but it's better than not participating in the space at all.
5. It's not all about all your friends.  Don't make any social networking project into a friends contest between yourself and other libraries.  I once overheard a librarian at a conference say "Yeah, well we're just the local city library and we have 4 times the friends that the county library does.  Eat that!"  And no, that did not take place at a bar.  This was someone honestly boasting about the friends stats on his library's social networking space.  Having a lot of people, legitimate people, in your community friend you is great.  It shows they're interested.  But don't be fooled by the many other librarians who will friend you just to be a friend of a library, or by the authors or other hucksters out there who want to friend you to get some free publicity.  Real friends on social networks are those in your service communities you're trying to reach.  Don't forget that.
6. Suss it up.  Make your profile interesting.  Add as much as you can in the way of customization like the color, the layout, the design scheme, and the font.  Add photos to your site, add music, add video, whatever you can to make the site as representative as possible of your community and your library.  There are so many ways to make MySpace pages look better (most are free) and Facebook, while somewhat limited, can still be gussied up with some images and links. 
7. Turn on notifications.  Turn on whatever notifications there are in your social networking service.  Most offer certain actions to be notified of--things like friend requests, direct messages, updates, and more.  Most of these can come to you via email or even RSS.  If you do this you won't remember to have to go back to the site repeatedly to find out if you have a message or friend request or anything else and you'll make sure you're responding in a timely way to those trying to reach you.
8. Have fun!  The line between the personal and professional is blurring, and that is no less truthful on social networking sites.  So, bring in some of the fun you find yourself having in your time on your person
9. Know no fear.  Don't be afraid to try new things, which means new networks too. Survey your community to find out which services they use most and sign up for profiles with those.  Try the new services and if they don't work out, that's okay. Get in there, see what you can do, see what features you like and what you don't, you're not stuck for all eternity.  Which brings me to the last tip...
10. Deleting accounts is okay.  After you've given it a good try, if you find that your community simply does not use the network you're using, it's okay to let the few (if any) friends you do have on the site that you'll be deleting it and then get rid of it.  No need to continue with something that doesn't work.