Social media in libraries is an elusive beast. Once you think you have it conquered and know how and where to communicate with patrons, things shift and your information is quickly out of date. In academic libraries, students jump from platform to platform, and it’s hard to know the best place to reach them and with what content. Librarians at Purdue University ran a social media survey in four libraries during the spring 2017 semester: the undergraduate, humanities, social science and education, business, and engineering libraries. We wanted to know what platforms the students were using, what they were using them for, and what content they want from us on each platform type. This information was used to inform the Purdue Libraries social media content and policy for the 2017-2018 school year. This session will cover a brief history of academic libraries’ use of social media, survey methodology and results, and how the survey has impacted the Purdue Libraries social media experience. We will discuss how as a library community we can complete our quest and slay the beast!
