Twit-err!

As with Facebook, there are those that will either love or hate the concept of this social networking platform.

And again we have to appreciate that there are different strokes for different folks. Compared to Facebook, Twitter focuses even more on the "what am I doing right now" aspect. And from that regard it certainly suits those who like to stay informed of the goings-on of their contacts at a micro level.

For example, Library Ninja remembers the pre-Twitter days when he was young, and that he spent a lot of his time on and off the phone with a number of friends – only to find himself repeating a lot of the same information to each one. Whereas nowadays with Twitter, Library Ninja can tweet about how his bonsai tree is doing – and all his followers can be informed at once. And, those followers that couldn't give a fig about his horticultural prowess can simply ignore the tweets. Library Ninja feels this is also a point that a lot of anti-Twitterers don't realise – and that is you're not expected to read every tweet that passes by, especially when you follow a lot of people.

Another aspect that a lot of Twitter-haters fail to comprehend is that you don't actually have to tweet to enjoy the benefits of Twitter. Library Ninja feels the guys at Twitter explain this concept best with: "You don't have to build a web page to surf the web and you don't have to tweet to enjoy Twitter." You can simply follow tweets from sources of information that you're interested in - whether it be the latest news from the around the world, your sports team, your favourite band or celebrity. Think of it as your own personalised ticker-tape.

And as mentioned in his Facebook post, Library Ninja understands that library patrons are more inclined to monitor their social networking sites than their local library website (hard to believe, I know!). Therefore, these social networking platforms can be extremely useful tools in directing users back to information located on the library site.