Library 2.0 and anonymity
Wednesday, April 4th, 2007Previously, I argued that Library 2.0 applications (e.g., those that encourage social interaction) should not necessarily use the same privacy standards as traditional library services.
A recent news story about the nastiness of anonymous commenters has further solidified my opinion. (The story is about vicious comments posted to the Orange County Register’s Web site in response to news about a woman who had given birth only 2 weeks after learning she was pregnant.) Anyone who has used anonymous or semi-anonymous message boards is probably familiar with this phenomenon. I’ve personally witnessed it on wedding-planning and running boards.
I’ve done a little searching to find other people’s opinions about this, and I came across a blog post about Library 2.0 and privacy issues by Rory Litwin on Library Juice. The post is very thoughtful and well worth visiting (or re-visiting). While I still think that libraries are not under obligation to preserve absolute confidentiality when offering inherently social applications, Rory brings up many related issues that librarians should be thinking about as they implement 2.0 ideas.
