The global trend on the use of social mediahas enhanced professional information sharing andnetworking. This development has created spaces forgroupsthat determine who gets informed, updated, inspiredand connectedas members. The librarians in Nigeria are not left out in this strategic phenomenon. This paper evaluated the different social media platformsused by librarians in Nigeria, thebenefits and the challenges. It was an expository researchthat employedfocus group discussion. A total of 12librarians from different institutionsparticipated in the discussion.Interview was also used to elicit data.The findings revealed that WhatsAppwas rated 100% as the number one social media platform used by librarians, followed by Facebookwith 80%, twitter 50%, Instagramand LinkedIn41.7%, 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 WhatsAppand Facebook, respectively. Benefits that werederived 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 anddisregardsto rules and regulations of the platformsaffect their use ofthe social mediagroups.It was therefore, recommended that strict sanctions should be placed on unwanted posts as well as punishment onmembers that err. The implication is that if decorum was not placed on social media platforms, there would be nomeaningful sharing of information and full participation of members.
Social media as platforms for information sharing among librarians in Anambra State, Nigeria
