Twitter?

[Shandra]

So, as part of our "Learning 2.0" series at Mulnomah Co. Library, one of the advanced assignments was to try Twitter. I have signed up for it, but I still question its usefulness. Okay, so it's kinda fun to get an update from a friend you don't see much, but I'm not sure it's that much fun. Plus, if you were to have too many friends, you'd be going crazy from all the updates. I've read a few blogs about its potential use by libraries, and even seen that a few libraries are using it. Do we really need a Twitter update when the latest best-seller comes in? (At my library, the information would only be useful to reming you to place a hold on it, cause it will already have 300 people waiting in line fo rit...)

Thoughts?

[Kelsey Smith]

I have nothing to add, other than I agree with you. I can't help but think that I am somehow failing to see the creative applications for the software, but so far it has failed to take hold of my fancy. I'm also curious to hear other people's perspectives on Twitter.

[Monique Lloyd]

This article has some libraries which use Twitter
http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2007/a-guide-to-twitter-in-libraries/
and this blog post lists 10 ways for libraries to use
http://www.davidleeking.com/2007/03/10/twtter-explained-for-librari...
I liked his comment:
With emerging trends, you really should play with the stuff you’re interested in, and let others mess with things that don’t interest you. But then - and this is important - SHARE. So with Twitter, I’ll watch twitter and tell you if I find something useful for libraries. You go watch something else, and report back, too - that’s how the blogosphere works!