INLS 490-121: Collaborative Writing Exercise/Successful Services
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How can Libraries in a 2.0 world determine user needs? Why do sites like Facebook, Craiglist, etc., work and others fail? What can libraries learn from this and put to use in their own 2.0 technology? Does usability testing determine success with web 2.0 services?
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Features of successful web 2.0 tools
Successful services have reached a critical mass
Facebook works because it has 200 million members. Why post your pictures on Flickr or other sites if that service is not connecting you to all of your friends? Facebook has managed to become the most popular photo sharing website in the world, yet its appeal is that it is more than a photo sharing website. It has become as popular as Myspace or similar social networking sites. Starting as a site only for college students and then expanding, Facebook has retained its ability to serve as an online social space for those who know each other offline. Facebook offers a community space like no other for its users.
Like Facebook, Craiglist offers community space as an online want ads, and draws its strength from its widespread user base. The more people who are trading, selling, and buying on Craigslist, the stronger it becomes.
Successful services are not dependent on good design
Usability testing is not really the bee's knee's of knowing user needs. For instance, Facebook does horribly on standard usability testing for websites, yet it is still incredibly popular. Users describe the Facebook site as cluttered, too busy, and frustrating, and often threaten to stage revolts when Facebook rolls out interface changes. Likewise, Craigslist is infamous for its bare-bones design, yet it hugely popular.
But people aren't leaving either service. Facebook and Craigslist's popularity springs from the value they deliver to users. In Facebook's case, value takes the form of connectivity and social capital (citation here?).
Successful services connect offline
Facebook and Craigslist's successes also lie in their ability to connect people in the virtual and "real" worlds. Like Facebook users, Craigslist users can use the service to facilitate online and face-to-face interactions. In fact, the success of these services may be blurring the lines between virtual and physical, as more people carry mobile internet devices that allow constant connectivity and use web tools to facilitate their "real" lives.
Applying this to library services
We talked in class about the visual appeal of library websites and new applications like Twitter, yet some sites like Facebook or Craigslist that defy the idea of web 2.0 as shiny things with rounded corners. These sites fit the need of a community. Can libraries adapt these techniques to make a community space that would be used online. Libraries are already be seen as physical community space. What about online? Though libraries should not attempt to rival Facebook or Craigslist, something can be learned from the titans of the web 2.0 world. These are just two sites that have succeeded though they do not meet standard usability or users needs. This sites support the idea that an online community can supplement physical community.

