#12

Well I tried the social networking sites. I found them to be a lot like wikis. Disorganized, somewhat confusing and not all that interesting. Yes, I read a few stories and if you had time to waste this may be a way to spend it. On the other hand, I personally believe that time is a precious commodity. With 4 kids, a husband, my job, and friends and other goings on I have a lot better things to do with my time. I don't foresee anyone at their death-bed wishing they had spent more time on social networking sites. I enjoy debate and am a news junkie so newsvine was my favorite. I was able to find some interesting articles and even left a comment. I do not enjoy signing up for everyone of these tools as I am a strong believer in privacy and would rather not have so much info about myself on the web. Are these useful? To a degree yes, it is always useful to be familiar with what is "hot" on the web. It could be a tangible way to connect with a new generation of libraries users. But it requires a tremendous amount of time. I also read an article in the NY Times and was able to e-mail it to my husband very easily. However, I had to become a member of ny times online. This is something I would never in a million years see myself doing. Not because it is onlie, I'm just more of a Human Events kind of girl. But it isn't always bad to get the view from the other side. I prefer to read news from a newspaper or magazine online than the no editor site. How reliable is the info?