Tuesday, October 20, 2009

23 Things #7

#7 of the 23 Things is blog about anything technology related (and add a comment to a classmate's blog, which I have already done). Lately, I have been reading a lot about public libraries that have started to block access to social media sites on their public access computers. The library where I work briefly considered this (the excuse that I heard was: our bandwidth is taxed by all the kids that use our Internet computers to logon to these sites!) and I recently visited a library that blocked access to Facebook, Myspace, and also Youtube. I really think this is an awful idea. I have heard all kinds of excuses---everything from malware risks to the worry that child predators find new victims on these sites. These are all valid concerns but I don't think libraries should isolate the young adults who like to use these sites. Many libraries have jumped on the social networking bandwagon, setting up Facebook pages and uploading library-related content to Youtube. I think it would be wrong for a library to setup a Myspace site and then prevent library customers from accessing that site in the library!

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