What is the Library Brand?

What is the library brand?  Or how would the library define it's brand when using social media? Libraries that choose to make use of social media be more than impersonal posts about their programs and services.  They can reach out to the community and support educating them to learn more about the causes that are interested in supporting social justice.   

I began thinking about the branding question because of my project Sussex Royal Instagram Analysis.  Harry and Meghan have to decide what their brand will be going forward because they are unable to use the word royal.   A library when they choose to use social media has to define what their brand is.  Will, it only is impersonal posts communicating to patrons about the library services or will it reach out to the community?

 A study at Montana State University uses Twitter to reach out to the students by using the hashtag #askalibrarian.  One way to reach out to the community is to find out what their needs are. Should this community be interested in how activism works a librarian needs to provide access to these resources and making them aware of available resources.  Or they could provide a way through the library website for the community to ask about certain causes such as  #BlackLivesMatter, #Metoo, #Macmillainembargo.  Social media posts on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram can also be used to reach different populations.

Members of the community use social media regardless of their financial status.   The poorer communities may come to the library to use the public computers to access it.  Library staff will need to support the use of social media on public computers.  The perception should change to how it can benefit the individual that it is just as valuable to use of time as working on a resume.  Staff can specifically respond to community inquiries for using library resources.  Let these community groups use the library and through their inquiries circulation may increase.   One of the readings from this week in class discussed supporting these community groups or local chapters of  Black Lives Matters or  LGBQ. 

There are many ways that the library can benefit from supporting social justice in the branches.  It all depends on how the library defines its brand.

References

Suciu, P. (2020, 3 March). What influence do prince harry and meghan have without the sussex royal brand? Forbes. Retrieved from  https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2020/03/03/what-influence-do-prince-harry-and-meghan-have-without-the-sussex-royal-brand/#7a034ef41dd4

Young, S.W.H. & Rossmann, D. (2015 March). Building library community through social media. 

Information Technology and Libraries.  20-37. Retrieved from:  file:///C:/Users/Jencey/Downloads/5625-Article%20Text-11826-4-10-20150409%20(1).pdf

Meet Harry and Meghan!

My topic is the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Sussex Royal Instagram page.   There are many topics that I could discuss these two very prominent people.  The future of their social media presence is about to change, but they are continuing to post.  My direction for this post will focus on the impact of their current presence and the civility of those who follow them.   The treatment by the media also impacts the civility that occurs in their posts.

Bot followers can impact social media accounts in an article 6 Rules to Follow When Using Instagram Bots.  These are followers that are artificial intelligence that can be used to follow accounts in social media and on Instagram.  One comment made on the most recent post was that many of the positive responses were cut pasted from other posts using bots (Social media explorer team, 2019).  Many social media networks try to root out these bot followers.  The discussion from this current post on St. David Day verges on also not being very civil.  Many people were expressing their displeasure at the choices of both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.   The impact of their decisions is being discussed in their posts everything from discussing their security arrangements and not taking their child to see his grandparents. 

The media coverage has also impacted the treatment of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.  The status that they have as royals has impacted how their decisions are viewed by the world.  Many of us would not have an opinion if they were not such prominent figures in the public.  The media coverage has caused concerns for both Harry and Meghan and for the safety of their family.  People should remember that Meghan may have become a British citizen but she is also American and still needs her friends like everyone else.   Harry also needs to know that his family can be protected.

Social media explorer team (2019). 6 rules to follow when using instagram bots. Social media                    explorer. Retrieved from:  https://socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/6-rules-to-follow-when-using-an-instagram-bot/

Page Analysis: Sussex Royal

I became a bigger fan of the royal family when I was introduced to first Kate and William after their

wedding, and then to Harry and Meghan.  I don't remember seeing young royals being published in the news in the United States for their work or activities in England prior to the previously mentioned couples.  After Harry and Meghan wed and became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex their audience got to learn more about who they are and what they are passionate about through their work.   

For this course, I will be focusing on their Instagram account Susses Royal which is the official page for their work.  In the fall  Harry and Meghan wanted to use this account to support people all over the world who lead a cause or made a major contribution to their community.  The Sussex Royal account would follow back any individual that met this criterion.  Both Harry and Meghan are big supporters of charity work.  The news coverage that has followed their work more closely in recent years has not always focused on positive contributions and can also be considered negative.  

How does this impact their page?

Will the rebranding of this page have on their followers?

Can followers make a contribution o support them?

How will rebranding their image impact their work?  

My analysis will focus on the questions mentioned above.   More information about Sussexes can be found on their website SussexRoyal.  My biggest concern is the rebranding of this page going forward and having access to it.

Week 5 Bookmarking or Social Tagging?

My initial impressions of bookmarks online and social tagging were not what I thought it would be.  I and others are probably familiar with creating bookmarks in your browser.    Social tagging to me referred to using folksonomies to link data to one another webpages.  How could they work together?  Which is better?

The first article we read this week is about social marketing.  It describes sites that use these functions.  I will use Pinterest as an example in this area.  Social tagging is defined as:

"Social tagging is a way for online users to categorize and share content. Within a social tagging system, users describe and categorize web content with a set of their own keywords, called "tags," and diverse content is searched and shared using these tags.  Because tags generated by individual users also help other users search and organize content, the collections of individually generated tags are called "social  tags." (J-Stor Daily, 2019

 I had never thought of it as a way to social linking between different webpages.  I have a board for  Writer's Corner but had never thought about connecting other blogs or websites that might be useful or create stronger links to this blog.   I have not had much success with doing this kind of marketing with Writer's Corner.  I think I might look for ways to include social links to increase marketing possibilities.

My experience in the past with marketing Writer's Corner lead me to sites that used paid links to refer to Writer's Corner to increase the audience.  I feel that libraries would want to possibly research this option but may not want to put the money into it.   I was for a time part of the Pinterest committee in my library system.  There were many good ideas for boards but none of them included ideas for marketing or creating bookmarks to draw in more of an audience.  I think their way of bookmarking was to follow other boards but not creating links between webpages.  I took time off the committee, but the Pinterest account did not seem to survive.   The library decided to focus their social media efforts in other areas such as Facebook, Twitter, and  Instagram.

Social tagging can provide connection to others.  Marketing may not be cost-effective as being willing to work together. I would like to see library systems be open to working together and offering a way of helping one another.   I feel that social tagging could benefit everyone should one choose to work together.  This could also work by including publishers and authors. It also could be a more cost-effective approach.

Week Three Ontologies and Folksonomies

 This week the topic is discussed Folksonomies and Ontologies, and their impact on social media.
   They play an important role in social media.   How can they play an important role in connecting information?   

My experience with folksonomies is more advanced than my experience with ontologies.  Folksonomies are the use of words to connect posts in social media together.  An example would be using a hashtag to make posts more searchable.    I have often used them her to let both the publicist and author know that I have posted a review of the book or the guest post that has been written by the author is available. 

Ontologies are the study of how two items connect using a common language.  An example of this blog would be using one of my reviews that I have also posted on Amazon to help someone decide whether or not that person would want to purchase a book.  Shoppers can also grade the reviewer by how effective their review is. 

I feel that both concepts folksonomies and  Ontologies can play important role in social media and connecting libraries.   These concepts could improve the reach and help build community for libraries.   I read an article last fall on a study done by the University of Montana State on how to build community with libraries.   They did both formal tweets and informal tweets.  The these tweets used folksonomies and could be studied for their ontologies.   The informal tweets were more engaging than formal tweets.   The way the words connected help to engage other students and the same could be said for patrons at a public library.

Welcome to Graduate School Course LS 565

Hello again!  I know that it has been a while since I have posted anything.  I started graduate school in the fall of 2018 at the University of Alabama Distance Learning program.   I am studying Library Science and Information Management.  I  have read many great books in the meantime you can check my Goodreads feed to see what I am currently reading.  I will be posting for my latest class Library Science 565.  This class will  discuss interaction of Social Media and Libraries.

I began my journey with social media in 2007.  I joined Facebook through an invite by a friend.  Once I joined Facebook, I started exploring what the site had to offer.  My informatics or the information that I selected to share with others, in my profile. One of the ways I use this site is to network and meet people.  It can also be a way of learning to process what is shared over time.   Over the years I received advice for what to post and how to develop a social network of people.

I started  Writer's Corner blog in 2010 and started posting book reviews, guest posts by visiting authors, and excerpts from upcoming book releases.  When I started trying to link data initially to my posts prior to clicking on an FB icon.  I had to cut and paste links to post on Facebook.   I love the icons that now exist that allow easy linking of data to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. 

I hope to learn in this course how to make linked data more discoverable on the various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram, and Pinterest.  I have learned how to link data through my work on this blog, but my posts are not as discoverable in the social media network.   One goal would be to learn how to apply it to libraries.

Are You Familiar with the Nantucket Christmas Stroll?

The second book of the Nantucket Christmas series is Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand.  I love her books and how she shares the annual traditions that take place on Nantucket.  This time she brings us back for Christmas and the Quinn’s family during the Winter Stroll.  What  how eventful could one Christmas really be?

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“A second Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn reflecting on the past year as he writes a holiday letter to friends and family. Though the year has had its share of misfortune and worry, the Quinns have much to celebrate. Kelley, now single, at least is on better terms with his first wife Margaret, who is using her celebrity to lure customers to the inn in record numbers. Their son Kevin has a beautiful new baby, Genevieve, with the Inn's French housekeeper, Isabelle; and their daughter, Ava, is finally dating a nice guy--her devoted colleague, Scott.

Now the Quinns are looking forward to celebrating Genevieve's baptism, welcoming Isabelle to the family, and enjoying the cheer of Nantucket's traditional Christmas Stroll. But just when a peaceful family gathering seems within reach, Kelley's estranged second wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island after souring on her relationship with the inn's former Santa Claus. Soon Kelley isn't the only Quinn entertaining a surprise guest from Christmases past as lovers old and new gather beneath the mistletoe. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it's going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns--and the inn--through the holidays intact. “ (Amazon)

I liked this next chapter with the Quinn family.  The book is short and will not take a long time to read.  Like most of Elin Hilderbrand’s books the characters drive the story, and keep the reader’s interest.  I will admit that I read this a little out of order, but still enjoyed it.  I am not a huge fan of Mitzi Quinn’s character and her choices, but that is a character trait of a good book. 

A great holiday read!  Catch the next chapter in the Winter In Paradise saga here.

Rating:

4/5