How Digital Content Helps Museums

Last week was #askacurator day on Twitter. I followed along to see what tweets were about digital content. I also tweeted a question about this topic and got some great responses. Listed below is a summary of what I learned from my question and other related information.


How do websites, social media, and blogs help museums?

• Increased engagement with existing and new audiences

• Increased accessibility to collections otherwise just kept in storage and seen by no one

• Great way to connect with people around the world whether or not they visit museums in person

• Great way to share expanded content beyond the content in museum

• Great way to tell stories

• Helps publicize events

• It helps present artifacts museums would not have room to show

• Blogs & social media help make collections more visible and accessible

• Social media helps people learn about museums.

• Online presence helps share material with the world

• Online exhibitions are a way to bring a museum to the people and can live beyond the life of the physical exhibition

• Social media is becoming a much bigger part of museum marketing strategies

Mini Case Studies

• The Smithsonian National Postal Museum uses Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Flickr. They plan to experiment with Instagram and Tumblr next. They also have a blog where they write about postal history stories, objects, famous/rare stamps, and behind the scenes at the museum. People learn about the museum through social media and it helps when others spread the word about the museum.

• The Everhart Museum uses Twitter every day and Facebook a few times a week. They are trying to do more on Pinterest and Instagram. They post content about current exhibits (facts & objects), collections, and programs & partners. Social media is a great way to spread the word about the museum and interact with people.

• The Children's Museum of Indianapolis uses social media because that is where their visitors "live". Social media is a great way for visitors to share their memories immediately after their visit.