Should Librarians Friend Their Patrons?

Abstract

Do you follow your boss on Twitter? What about your coworkers? Do you friend them on Facebook, or do you reserve your social media accounts for friends and family and leave off professional acquaintances? Or do you try to be selective, friending a few favorite coworkers and letting others' friend requests languish awkwardly unanswered? Should professors friend their students? Is the answer different if the students are freshmen than if they are doctoral candidates? How did you react when your parents signed up for Facebook? (Come to think of it, what did your children do when you signed up?) Most users of social media services eventually find themselves debating exactly whom they want to include among their friends or followers. The very connectivity and accessibility that makes social media so appealing inherently forces users to deliberate about just how connected they want to be, to whom, and why Some people strictly emphasize the social in social media, using Facebook and Twitter and other accounts only for personal interactions with friends and family. Others view these services as professional communication tools, building online networks around shared professional interests and perhaps excluding or limiting personal interactions from what they have decided is primarily a working space. This installment of Taking Issues examines that challenge in the context of the relationship between librarians and our patrons: Should librarians connect with patrons using social media? It's important to clarify that this is a separate issue from social media use by libraries as an official communication medium. Many libraries maintain a presence on various social networks; naturally, the goal is that patrons would like, friend, or follow them to keep up with the library's events and resources. The current debate concerns individual librarians friending patrons via their personal social media accounts. Arguing in favor of friending patrons is Nedda H. Ahmed of Georgia State University, who uses social networking to build relationships with students and faculty. She argues that such online interactions help her build a sense of community with her users and make her appear approachable and accessible. She is countered by Adriana Edwards-Johnson of the Pioneer Library System, who is troubled by the use of personal social media accounts as makeshift library service points. Both contributors speak to the importance of being thoughtful about the balance between personal and working life when using social media accounts to cultivate professional relationships. Ultimately, librarians who choose to friend or not to friend on social media must decide how accessible they choose to be, when, to whom, and for what purposes.--Editors AHMED Should librarians individually friend their patrons on social media? I say yes--but a qualified yes. Under the right circumstances, perfectly okay to friend your patrons. Note that I say it's okay, not it's essential or should be mandatory: Friending your patrons can be an acceptable option if it fits your institutional culture, your way of working, and your personal worldview, but I don't think a requirement of good librarianship. There are several good reasons to consider connecting with patrons on social media. First, these connections help humanize the relationship between users and the library. Learning about me through my Facebook and Twitter feeds, patrons can come to see me as a real person who is knowledgeable and, most importantly, approachable. The content I post about myself also helps demonstrate my relevance to my patrons, who can see that I'm interested in the same things they are. Finally, social media can be a great way to start and build relationships. When deciding whether friending patrons is a good idea, I believe that librarians should consider the following key issues: institutional culture, outreach, content, and work-life balance. …