Solomon, Laura. Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide. ALA Editions, 2011.
I was excited about this book. At only 65 pages, it seemed like a quick read that could point toward some best practices and fresh ideas about social media in the context of libraries. It was clear and well written and provided a good introduction. However, I was slightly disappointed – disappointed that it didn’t cover everything I had hoped and disappointed that such a book was even required to remedy some of the social media blunders libraries still make.
One major reason it was disappointing was its target audience seemed to be people with no background in social media. One way to perceive this is by interpreting the first line from the back cover summary:
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn: it’s difficult enough to keep abreast of social media Web sites, let alone understand how they fit into today’s library.
If you nodding and thinking “Finally! A book to explain this!” – then you might like this book. However, if you are shuddering and thinking – “No, I pretty much understand these sites.” and/or “Why is MySpace listed?” – then you may want to avoid this book.
Most of the introduction and general advice is accurate and clear, but it is also very basic. “Interact with people in social media, or risk becoming irrelevant.” (p.3). That’s accurate, clear, and even good advice. But what misconception is that clarifying? Who is that helping? Sadly, this information should help librarians! Other studies (for example, Academic Libraries on Facebook: An Analysis of Users’ Comments) have demonstrated that many librarians completely ignore this principle – “Based on this study, the total number of comments on library Facebook pages would be significantly lower overall if it were not for the library staff posting on their own library walls and commenting every few weeks.” A particularly irritating habit – libraries liking their own Facebook status – is one example that demonstrates how out of touch some institutions are with the norms of social media. Sadly, many libraries need the basic reminders that Solomon provides in her book.
My second complaint is that some of the practical advice she offers simply isn’t compelling. On a section titled “Status Update Makeovers” she views this as an ineffective update:
The internet computers are not available due to maintenance.
I’ll admit this tweet is impersonal and formal; but I don’t see how her remade example is substantively better:
Argh! Power surge took down a server – no Internet here this morning, sorry!
I don’t know how/whether the “Argh!” or the exclamations points – and 4 of her 5 good examples have exclamation points! – make the posts more personal or emotional. In fact, a recent article in the Atlantic shows that, for news related tweets, the perfect tweet is actually “kind of boring”. If her goal in writing is to make social media “matter” – I can’t see how her remade tweets “matter” any more.
Without stereotyping or being too harsh, this book fits the standard library model – to learn about a subject, you buy a book (in this case, a $37 book!). The advice is good, basic, and (quite sadly) still important for libraries to hear. However, if you already have a grasp of social media, this book might be disappointing. Final verdict: this book is useful, but isn’t life changing.