Skipping Ahead, In Brief

I was going to watch vids to learn about wikis for libraries, but I still haven't got Flash 9 on my workroom computer. I went ahead to #20 because the only time I ever looked at anything on MySpace, I couldn't figure out how to track the comments on someone's topic. Of course, there might not actually be a way; it could be a mostly nonlinear communication method.

(I've noticed that with Blogger; yeah, you can set your own comments so you're notified about later posted comments, but there's no way to respond to one person specifically rather than simply making a post to the wide world. Or at least no easy way, since I haven't found it yet. I know some other blogging services have this feature.)

Looking again, it may be that one needs an account to read the comment threads. For some MySpace accounts, I'm sure you have to have mutual friending. That doesn't seem likely for the Denver Public Library. I suppose they just never reply.

I really like the layout and general look of the DPL Teens MySpace, but was startled to see that their page is "Female 18 years old".

Must one have a "person" avatar, not a "thing"? And of course, if you must pick, it should be female (nonthreatening); adult, yet not too adult. But. "I'm the Denver Public Library Web Site for Teens!"

It just seems incredibly disingenuous and kind of creepy that they've endowed the website with teenage personhood. Fake Teen Personas: Not Just For Predators Any More! At least the Female HCL page is 88, and has avatar photos of several actual staff members.

On the upside, I can see how a library MySpace page might be a good place to meet other library-oriented geeky teenagers, unless of course they're somebody/something else masquerading as geeky teenagers.