Social media as platforms for information sharing among librarians in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract The global trend on the use of social media has enhanced professional information sharing and networking. This development has created spaces for groups that determine who gets informed, updated, inspired and connected as members. The librarians in Nigeria are not left out in this strategic phenomenon. This paper evaluated the different social media platforms used by librarians in Nigeria, the benefits and the challenges. It was an expository research that employed focus group discussion. A total of 12 librarians from different institutions participated in the discussion. Interview was also used to elicit data. The findings revealed that WhatsApp was rated 100% as the number one social media platform used by librarians, followed by Facebook with 80%, twitter 50%, Instagram and LinkedIn 41.7%, respectively while Skype rated 33% and blog 25%. It was also discovered that 50% of the respondents belonged to 6-10 professional groups while 33% and 25% belonged to over 11 professional groups on WhatsApp and Facebook, respectively. Benefits that were derived through the social media platforms are awards, sponsorships, collaboration, updates, networking, supports, exchange of ideas and professional relationship. However, unwanted copy and paste, inactive participation, personal and business advertisements, information explosion and disregards to rules and regulations of the platforms affect their use of the social media groups. It was therefore, recommended that strict sanctions should be placed on unwanted posts as well as punishment on members that err. The implication is that if decorum was not placed on social media platforms, there would be no meaningful sharing of information and full participation of members.