Disadvantages Of Social Media

The use of social media has become prevalent in the lives of many due to advances in technology, its accessibility and usability. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) state that social media “is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (p. 61). Social media enables users to communicate and share content freely and independently. Examples of social media platforms include social networking sites such as Facebook, sites that can be used to share videos such as YouTube, microblogging sites such as Twitter, etc. (Whiting & Williams, 2013). Research into the use of social media conducted by Perrin (2015) indicated that in 2015, 65% of American adults used social networking sites compared to 7% …show more content…
Therefore, according to Swanson (2012) the introduction of social media into library websites have developed these sites into “mashups of locally-created content and externally-produced content held together by social-media-driven services” (p. 118). Although adding social media tools to a library’s website can be a great opportunity for increasing the functionality and services offered to users, these tools are not without their disadvantages (Swanson, 2012). Therefore, this paper seeks to critically examine the impact social media has on information and library services.

Librarians have adapted to the changes in users’ needs and preferences since many have added social media applications to library websites in an attempt reach and disperse information to users. The Taylor and Francis Group (2014) indicated that 71% of the libraries surveyed in North America, Asia and Europe used social media tools while another 13% indicated that they had planned to use these tools soon. Therefore many librarians can