Thing 8 - Facebook

I procrastinated a long time on this Thing, for a variety of reasons.  The primary, however, being that I don't see myself using Facebook in my personal life (at least much).  

Who knows?  Maybe it will grow on me as the Reader has (the only Thing, so far, to convert me to a regular and enthusiastic user).

At work, however, we are currently in discussions about using more of the online social tools to capture the interest of the younger generations, so it's important for us to know more than "Facebook exists" - we need to be able to use the tools effectively to reach those who are living their entire lives online.

I think the struggle comes with the generational differences.  I'm "old" for my chronological age in a lot of ways: not only do I still write and send real letters (yes, handwritten on paper), but I like a bit of division between my work and personal lives.  

I think a lot of mangers feel this even more strongly, especially in terms of their employees' activities while "on the clock."  (Not only because they do tend to be of a generation above mine, but also because the challenge of managing these technologies is so new.)

But the fact of the matter is, you can't prohibit your employees from using social networking tools and exploit the benefits from those tools at the same time.  Want to capture today's adolescents, teens, and college students?  You have to be where they are--online.  All the time.  

Does this mean it's okay for librarians to be on Facebook, Twitter, and the like while on desk if they're monitoring and updating library sites?  If they're keeping up with what the community is talking about?  Or does it become yet another off-desk responsibility?  

Since the allure of these technologies seems to be constant, instant contact, it seems like librarians are facing yet another paradigm shift.  In my library, at least, I see it being a shift in terms of what is considered acceptable work practice (yes, you may use Facebook at work?!) and work assignments (will scheduling now include not only desk time and programming time, but time to post to and monitor content on social network sites?).

However, I think the real challenge will be the inability to separate the personal from the professional.  It seems like the up-and-coming generations make no such distinction, but managers are going to have a tough time making the leap.  (If you're being paid to work, you need to be working, after all.)

Does it come down to an inherent change in the nature of our work?  Or, at least an  addition to our already numerous tasks?