Social Media and Library Services: Points of Convergence

The Internet has brought in its wake unlimited opportunities for information sourcing, retrieval, and dissemination, as well as a plethora of platforms for the exchange of information. Among such platforms are web 2.0 technologies like Twitter, Blog, Facebook, My Space, Linkedin, Wiki, Flicker, and a host of others known and referred to as social media. The social media is home to millions of subscribers who make use of these sites daily for one information need or the other, to socialize or to interact. One of the core mandates of libraries is to provide needed information for their diverse users. Because of the popularity enjoyed by these social media outfits as a result of the ability to disseminate information, it has been latched on by many professions, including libraries whose duty is to provide needed information. This paper discusses the major social media technologies and benefits to libraries. It also explained the need for these social media technologies in the libraries, as well as how libraries can integrate them. The paper concluded by stating that there is a need for the management of libraries to ensure internet connectivity in their libraries, which is a prerequisite for the use of these applications.