Destination Web Era

This topic caught my attention because honestly I did not know what “Destination Web” was. Now I know I already knew what it was, although I was not familiarized with the expression.

I found an article by Steve Rubel titled Up Next: The Data Decade retrieved from forbes.com, with a definition of destination web: “The 1990s were all about browsing. In the dial-up days we would navigate from site to site--either to fulfill a certain goal or just for serendipity. Thinker Om Malik calls this The Destination Web Era.”

I was thinking about this subject just this week. I thought about how things have changed and how I would turn to Twitter or Facebook to find out the most current information about a company (events, promotions, coupons, news, etc.). However, I believe having a website is still important and necessary. For example, if you look for a big company/brand/product on Facebook you will find several pages, the official page plus others created by fans or by people dissatisfied with the company. Confusing! I tend to go to the company’s website first and from there find the official social media sites.

I know I have to meet my friends where they are: the coffee shop, the night club, the library… but I still need a home where my friends can come visit me. This is how I see social media vs. destination websites.

David Lee King talks about Steven Rubels’ article, and contends that instead of ending, the destination web era is morphing. Read more here.

More to read:

Introducing the New Net by Om Malik

Exercise 2

Overall the first five blogs touch on current issues related to libraries and/or the library professionals. However, I did notice differences between the blogs.

In the Library with the Lead Pipe

This blog focuses on the library as a profession; the blog posts are lengthy and more than blog posts are essays. There are several authors.

Librarian’s Commute

Uses the Google Blogger platform; the posts are regularly a few paragraphs in length; the blog posts are usually about the author’s personal comments about library issues in a community library setting.   

The Distant Librarian

This blog is basically about technology in general, technology related to the library field (with a focus on instruction) and general library including book reviews. The lengths of the posts are a few paragraphs.

Librarian by Day

This blogs touches on current subjects related to technology and libraries (the latest post was on how to checkout and return Kindle books at public libraries) and also just books. The posts are lengthy compared to the Librarian’s Commute and The Distant Librarian.

David Lee King

I love this blog. The author shares his own experiences working at a public library and talks about other topics such as technology, web 2.0, vendors, web design, etc. The lengths of the posts vary.

My favorite of the five blogs was David Lee King. His posts have a positive feeling. I like how he shares his experiences working at a library and the variety of the topics he covers.

The three extra blogs I picked were:

Tame the Web

I love Tame the Web. The author is a SJSU SLIS professor; the blog is mainly focused on technology for libraries, but includes a variety of topics that range from interesting YouTube videos to iPhone apps recommendations.

Librarian in Black

This is the only blog from the list provided I have read in the past. The author focuses on technology in general and technology for libraries, in addition to experiences related to her professional career and personal life. Her posts are easy to read and include some humor.

ACR Log

This was my least favorite blog. The blog posts have different authors. The topics refer to academic and research library issues.

Based on what I liked and disliked from the eight blogs discussed above, I think a combination of the following three characteristics could make a library blog successful:

*Right length, not too long or too short

*Frequently updated

*Interesting, current topics; not only one subject

To the three characteristics you could add a conversational writing style, a positive overall feel (not an outlet for complaining), and patrons interested in following a blog.  

Tweet, Tweet!

Quick Facts

• According to a recent Pew Internet report, 13% of online adults use Twitter. 
• According to Bing Visual Search, the top 3 Twitter users are: Lady Gaga with over 13 million followers, Justin Bieber with more than 12 million, and Barack Obama with over 10 million. 
• According to the web information site Alexa, Twitter.com is one of the top ten global websites.

So, what do I think about Twitter?

Well, to start I am not a Twitter user, although I have an account. I don't Tweet or Follow. But I must admit people love Twitter and it has become a great way to connect, communicate, and promote. If I were a celebrity, a business, or a library I would be tweeting.

I wanted to look at the Twitter page of three libraries in the Los Angeles area to see what they are tweeting about. I found out that the LA County Public Library, USC Libraries and LA Law Library use Twitter. County of LA PL tweets about their news and programming; USC tweets about additions to their collections and today in history; LA Law tweets about their news and classes they offer (but they don't tweet frequently).

To get some ideas of advantages and disadvantages of using Twitter in a library I browsed an interesting article, Using Microblogging Tools for Library Services by Mary Hricko, published last year in the Journal of Library Administration. Here she talks about different micro-blogging platforms--not only Twitter--and gives an overview of their features. She also talks about the different ways libraries and librarians can use micro-blogging to "interact within the workplace and with patrons."


In addition, Hricko talks about the challenges (disadvantages) of using these tools, including the fact that open source technologies can easily disappear, and the challenge of assigning the task of keeping posts current and interesting to library staff members.

Exercise 1

Red Robin was my for-profit company for Exercise 1. My daughter and I love this restaurant and we always look forward to having our favorites: Turkey Burger and Corn Dog—my daughter also looks forward to getting a helium balloon after our meal!

Red Robin has an online presence through a website, an official Facebook page, a YouTube channel, Twitter, and LinkedIn. There are also several non-official Facebook pages about Red Robin featuring local restaurants, menu items, and check-in pages. 

The official Red Robin social media sites are updated frequently and clearly provide interaction between the company and its clients, especially in Facebook and Twitter. For example, a person complained in their Facebook page “never got my free burger when me and my wife registered we both have birthdays in september nothing happened” and the restaurant replied “Happy Birthday Month to you and the wife! Email us at guestrelations@redrobin.co, and we'll get you squared away!” 

In their Twitter account a person tweeted “Nothin like @redrobinburgers and @Starbucks for breakfast. @teeH0 http://lockerz.com/s/138658069” and Red Robin replied “@Steph_Funni No judgement here!” 

I believe Red Robin is using their official social media pages in an effective way. The content is frequently updated, and the followers are acknowledged and engaged. However, I believe Red Robin could do a better job tracking and engaging costumers at non-official social sites. For example, I checked my local Red Robin restaurant in Yelp (Lakewood, CA), and found several complaints. This situation could be an opportunity for the company to connect with costumers, listen to their praises and complaints, and find a way to make them happy and keep them coming back.

I also tried How Sociable? And found out that Red Robin has visibility score of 246.