Social Media in Libraries: It's Like, Complicated

Abstract

This article considers how some major libraries across the world are using social media platforms. Libraries have engaged with the ‘household brands’ familiar to us all regardless of geographic location or language although their use of the platforms varies widely. Although there are no surprises in how the platforms are used and what content is made available by each library, the overall impression is of patchy use of the platforms, with some libraries fully embracing all platforms while others concentrate on fewer. A key message is that use of high quality images for websites seems to succeed in engaging with people. The article is based around social media data collected from library accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs between July and August 2012, extended for three months for YouTube due to the lack of regularly submitted content. After a discussion about the role of social media in libraries, the data is analysed for each platform.