Flash Mobs, Social Media, and the Library

Last week someone sent me a link to the University of Maryland’s parody of Psy’s Gangnam Style video.  The library has a Facebook page that gave instructions for practicing the dance and where/when the flash mob would take place.  A majority of the video is shot in the library with the flash mob meeting on the quad.   I have seen other parodies of this song/dance but none done in a library.

How does this relate to youth services librarianship?

Well, my students have been talking about and doing this dance for about a month now.  I even saw a local high school soccer team doing the dance on the evening news when they were featured.  And many of them use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.  So I started thinking about how social media could be used in youth services librarianship.  I took to the ORR to search out some articles for ideas.

“Online Marketing Strategies for Reaching Today's Teens” by Laura Horn discusses using Facebook, blogs, web pages, and widgets to market library services, programs, and event to teens.  It also discusses having a TAB Facebook group to share ideas and planning events.  The article lists some sites as well for ideas and ways to get started.

“Libraries Get Social--Social Media, That Is!” By Victor Rivero offers resources for school libraries using social media for students and librarians.

“Very Pinteresting!” by Kate Messner gives great ideas about using Pinterest in schools and public libraries.  She even lists sites to help those getting started with Pinterest and links to libraries/librarians using Pinterest already.  There are also a number of authors’ Pinterest sites given.

I think social media can be a very effective way to reach and serve youths from a library perspective.  Multiple articles mentioned a few things to keep in mind such as updating and keeping up.  Teens will lose interest in sites that are not updated on a regular basis.  As librarians, we will also need to keep up with what is new in the lives of those we are trying to reach.  


Horn, L. (2011). Online Marketing Strategies for Reaching Today's Teens. Young Adult Library Services, 9(2), 24-27.

Messner, K. (2012). Very Pinteresting!. School Library Journal, 58(7), 24-27.

Rivero, V. (2010). Libraries Get Social--Social Media, That Is!. Multimedia & Internet@Schools, 17(6), 8-12.