Folkbiblioteks image på Facebook : Undersökning av fyra folkbiblioteks imageskapande och mottagande på Facebook

Sammanfattning: This essay was to investigate what self-image public libraries convey on Facebook and what image is received by the users, along with comparison of those. It was investigated if the received image corresponded with the users’ previous image of public libraries. The method used was interviews with the Facebook administrators and surveys with the users. The theoretical framework was Kotler’s model for image creation.The research is mainly American and shows Facebook as an accepted marketing tool for libraries among students, but as not taken seriously by the library staff. Also the Swedish studies show that Facebook is used for marketing. They show there are no policies for working with Facebook image and that the process is randomized.The results of the interviews show that the main purpose for the libraries’ participating on Facebook is marketing and conveying a positive library image, although there are no specific guidelines. The results of the surveys show that the majority has a positive view of the pages. The negative image is due to a lack of correlation between the recipients’ earlier image of libraries and the mediated image. The receivers believed that the pages were created for marketing.The analysis of the results showed that the libraries that used Kotler's model for image creation got more positive response among users than those who did not. The most important factor in library image creation on Facebook is how well it reflects reality and how well the image corresponds with the recipients' perception of reality.