LibraryTechtonics

Watching NECN on Tuesday around lunchtime, I saw a spot on the site HeyLetsGo. Unfortunately, I can’t find the clip on the NECN site… the way they archive seems to be based on how popular they think a clip will be, but they aren’t archived by date, nor do they seem searchable.

The idea of the site, which was brewed using research from MIT’s Media Lab or the Social Behaviors Lab, I can’t remember (while noted in the NECN clip, it doesn’t seem to be in the FAQ or the About Us portions of the site), is to take social networking to the real world using technology, instead of limiting social networking relationships exclusively to the online interaction numbers game.

Events are listed, ranging from free to expensive, concerts and festivals to restaurants and clubs. The home page lists the events of the day, in a handy table broken up by time span, with options to see the events for the next 7 days, latest pics, most popular, and recently added events. If you create a free account, you can post and recommend events, invite people to go with you, and find fun people to meet up with in general. Event popularity is gauged using the Buzz Level rating system, which is based on how many people save an event to their Wish List, or how many people view and event.

Like other social networking sites, you can add friends from within the site, or invite friends from outside the site by typing email addresses or importing your Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail address book. Both the People and Groups are browseable and searchable, and creating a new group is super easy. I could totally see libraries and librarians using this, in conjunction with, say, something like Linked In, to not only network with each other, but let other people know about library events and offerings. Can you imagine the possibilities for book groups alone? There are only 2 listed in the Boston area right now.

I really love the idea of taking social networking to an action level, as opposed to living in a strangely imaginary social construct. It’s like Evite and CitySearch had a really, really sexy baby, without all the ugly ads and really poorly formated pages. I’m even considering moving my Free Stuff to Do in Boston calendar into a more HeyLetsGo format, so that it’s easier to populate and manage And, I could recruit help in the form of group members, so’s I’m not doing it on my own all the time, because sharing is groovy.

Another benefit is that the target audience is not exclusively young. You need to be 13-years old or older to have an account, and the events range from singles meetups to thirtysomething game nights to family days in the park, with everything in between.

I think this is a social networking site that libraries could really get their heads around, especially since, in the end, the networking could and would lead to more traffic into the library for events, or a way for librarians to help get the word out about local events, boosting the vision of librarians as in-the-know. Even if you don’t create and account, check it out, it’s got great potential to be big.

Tags: technology