I was surprised to find that I had a Facebook page until I remembered getting notices from a couple of people I know slightly that they wanted me to be their 'friend'. Since none of this required me to shoulder the burdens of a real friendship, why not? If I get excessive e-mail from anybody, he or she gets on my spam list and vanishes into the aether anyway. It was the first time I'd been on it since these people invited me, and may be the last. I am not that interested in developing online relationships with people I don't know from a hole in the ground and probably wouldn't want to know in person.
Mr. Perkiness from Commoncraft assures us that this is all networking and very valuable stuff, which will get you anything from a good job to a new house to a hot date. Maybe and maybe not. It will also allow collective wisdom to be combined for the Greater Good. Maybe and maybe not, because a lot of the 'wall' stuff I looked at was inane and uninformative. I find listservs function better for that sort of thing, but if others prefer this way, that's fine with me. It's more a matter of style than substance, and people should be free to have their own style.
Any of this useful for libraries? Looks as if some libraries have one or both kinds of pages, so it must be working for them. If they bring people into the building or bring them to databases or other library services, and the library keeps the pages current, they've served their purpose. If they aren't kept current, they're useless, but anything that isn't kept current is useless, whether it's on paper or online.
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