How to use this Page

Microsoft is billing its upgrade of the Xbox Live platform (as the “future of TV.” The new user interface comes with a wealth of content from video partners, including 26 live channels from Verizon Fios, thousands of On Demand options... Read the rest of this post

CBS News is targeting the (Facebook and Internet generations with an online news show, “What’s Trending,” which aims to give more context to the headlines that are trending on social media. In other social net news, young... Read the rest of this post

Disney goes with Gowalla (not Foursquare or Facebook Places — as the official location-based social network of Disney Parks and Resorts. The startup has launched custom Gowalla Disney Passport pages along with over 100 virtual pins that... Read the rest of this post

“Why would anyone do that?”
“How does anyone have the time?”

The above are questions I hear regularly when talking with librarians about ways that technology is being used by teens, and by adults too. Most recently these are questions I hear when talking about check-in services. For some librarians the idea of checking-in to a location with FourSquare, Gowalla, or Scvngr, or using a site like GetGlue to “check-in” to let others know about current reading or viewing, seems totally off-the-wall.

As I think more and more about the questions I regularly hear, and how some librarians think about the way teens use technology, I realize again how important it is to separate one’s own experience and way of doing things from the development of library services teens need. For example, I’d suggest that it doesn’t really matter whether or not a librarian understands why teens like to text with each other when sitting beside one another in the library. Or, a librarian doesn’t really have to understand why people like to earn virtual badges on FourSquare or virtual stickers on GetGlue. Librarians also don’t need to understand how people find the time to participate in a variety of social media activities. Understanding the why and how can definitely be helpful, but the first thing a librarian needs to do is simply accept that people like to do these things and that it’s not the librarian’s job to judge the activities and behaviors based on personal experiences and personal likes and dislikes. It is the librarian’s job to find out how these activities can fit into library programs and services, in this case for teens, successfully.

What if every time a librarian found out about a new way that technology is being used the initial reaction always was, “That is really interesting, I’m not sure if anyone in the community is using this technology, and I don’t really get why anyone would, but I’m going to find out who is using it, learn some more about why, and then figure out how to integrate it into what we do so we can do what we do even better.” That reaction isn’t one of judgement. It’s a reaction that is focused on teens – the library user – and not on the librarian’s likes, dislikes, interests, and so on.

Anytime there is something new or a change in the way things are done there is the danger of jumping to judgments because of lack of understanding. Instead of making judgments about teens and Facebook, teens and Foursquare, teens and texting, librarians have to look at the new with an open-mind and I’d even say with a healthy dose of positive curiosity. (This isn’t required just when it comes to technology of course, it is required with books too – street lit, manga, graphic novels, cellphone novels, etc. All of these require the same open-mind as new technologies require.)

One way to get started being positively curious about technology use in your community is to check to see if your library is listed in FourSquare, or Gowalla, or Scvngr. (If it is and library staff are not aware of that, that means community members have been checking-in to the library and have added the site to the location-based software’s database all on their

Perez Hilton promises to stop bullying (celebrities on his website — no "nasty nicknames," no "outing" people. The infamous gossip blogger even took to 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' yesterday to talk about how he's changing his ways….but is... Read the rest of this post

Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board post comes from Libby who reports back from SXSW Interactive on some of the youthier insights gleaned, trends spotted and more! Remember  you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory... Read the rest of this post