Putting the gloves on over social networking

Just finished reading the first round of blog responses to the Social Networking assignment for PP.

There are definitely two competing views on this topic:

In this corner, weighing in at 250 pounds, is "We shouldn't waste our time with this. We should be focusing on developing our library website and spending the time promoting this instead. Besides, if we try to be where people are socially -- especially younger people -- we will often come off as "cheesy" rather than as the professionals we are. And there are a lot of other issues to consider -- profiles being viewed as endorsements of social networks, privacy issues -- that makes this a can of worms we shouldn't open."

In the other corner, weighing in at an equal weight, is "We should be where the users are. Period. We need to do this to survive and thrive. And if it isn't harmful, why the heck wouldn't we do this?"

Both excellent arguments. Both have their merits, and where libraries go with this is, as with all the other PP technologies, up to the library's mission and views and time and resource allocation.