Sharing or editing? The changing role of libraries in social media

Abstract

The study reports on the new findings of social media analysis carried out by the research workshop on content provision at the Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Library and Information Science. The team first investigated the presence of libraries on Facebook in 2013, from the point of supporting information and research in higher education, based on 4500 posts of 126 organizations. Although Facebook continues to be popular, serious concerns have been recently expressed regarding its universal role in gathering information. In the past three years it became obvious that libraries should play an increasingly active role in social media as mediators of information literacy.

The findings of first investigations were published in 2014. The research was repeated in the spring of 2016, based on 2200 new posts, according to the same methodology. The study summarises the basic findings of new investigations, presents the new aspects of research and outlines the potential roles of libraries coming from the changes caused by the development of social media.