Online Social Networking and Reading: Advantages, Disadvantages and Effectiveness Solutions

the main aim of this study is explore the experiences of Sanandaj public librarians’ users about advantages and disadvantages of online social networking in reading area and effectiveness solutions.
This study employed qualitative method using in-depth interview. The research participants consisted of 24 users of Sanandaj public librarians in 2016. The study used a purposeful sampling technique to recruit participants, and recruiting continued until data saturation was achieved. The method of analyzing data was “thematic analysis”.
Findings: From the analysis of the data 38 sub-themes and three main themes were emerged. The main themes included advantages, disadvantages and effectiveness solutions. In the category of advantages, the main topics included information availability, awareness, attraction, information exchange, communication, formation of social reading communities, leisure, promoting reading culture , marketing, creating willingness and spontaneity in reading, increasing reading and counseling.. In the category of disadvantages, the main topics included content weakness, time wasting, changes in reading behavior, needs, harmful effects on the body, addiction, visual appeal and misleading reading, instability content, structural constraints, lack of enjoyment of reading, being virtual, encouraged to aimless in reading, lack of clear achievement, lack of organized information, changing tastes and preferences of studies, negative impact on the publishing industry and the difficulty of acceptance and compatibility with new media among the elderly. In the category of effectiveness, the main topics included culture building, knowledge creation, training, content optimization, network optimization, need analysis, creating need, orientation, planning and control and monitoring. Each category also contained sub-topics more.
Originality/value: This study provides insights on the advantages, disadvantages and effectiveness solutions for using social networks and to take advantage of social media to promote reading among people.