16
2011
Social Media Engagement
An article by 
I’ve been reading Sally Pewhairangis’ posts over the last few weeks examining New Zealand public libraries use of social media.
It’s been interesting to see which libraries are engaged in the use of these tools and to what extent.
Hopefully for those libraries not currently active in this space it will be the wake up call required to start engaging with customers using these channels of communication.
Like all things there’s a tipping point (Gladwell) and as we roll through the remainder of 2011 I expect the benefits of using Facebook and Twitter etc. to connect with library customers will finally reach a level of mainstream gravitas in the minds of library staff and management.
Next step – a few nationally coordinated initiatives between those engaged in publishing social content to help drive enhanced levels of consumer engagement and awareness across the country.
Who’s keen to join me?
I think that’s a great idea – we are working on our new website, in tandem with social media policy and strategy – getting ready to launch a multi-pronged initiative. Staff are dabbling at the moment, blogging internally, about to engage with Twitter, and we will soon be ready to launch them on an unsuspecting community! Would love to develop a wider strategy – I certainly believe that reciprocal arrangements in social media can be beneficial for everyone.