By Maryke Benadé
Social media have become integral in people's lives. Can it also be a creative way to introduce people to museums?
People use social media in different ways, which can bring challenges and opportunities for museums. People communicate with each other, share their content or news about current events and use it to find information about specific interests. Groups have also seen the benefit of using social media. Activists raise social justice issues online that have helped create real-world movements, and community groups can connect with members and organise online and offline events. Businesses use social media marketing to promote their products and services.
With around 5 billion social media users worldwide at the start of 2024 (Kemp, 2024b), social media has become an integral part of how a lot of people connect with the world around them.
To decide if social media is right for your museum, consider the following:
So let’s get a better understanding of social media and work out if using this communication channel can help you spark curiosity and cement your museum’s place as an important space in your community.
What is social media?
Social media is a digital network where people can connect and interact with each other by digitally creating and sharing information on social media platforms using computer and smartphone technology.
Within these networks, there are different types of platforms that offer different types of ways of sharing information. While they are all based on creating and sharing information, each platform differs in how that information is shared. For example, users share photos and videos on Instagram, which is a visual-first social media platform, compared with X (formally Twitter), which is seen as a micro-blogging social media platform, where images and videos can be shared in support of the text shared. Content curation social media platforms like Pinterest focuses more on the discovery and organisation of visual content based on the user’s interests, rather than focusing on text.
Top used social media platforms in 2024
According to Statista.com , the top three social media networks worldwide as of April 2024 based on the number of monthly active users are:
Facebook - 3,049000 monthly active users
YouTube - 2,491000 monthly active users
Instagram - 2,000000 monthly active users
So how do all these users stay engaged on these platforms every month? Social media platforms have sophisticated algorithms that provide us with content we might find valuable and engage with based on our behaviour on the social media platform. For example, commenting, sharing or liking content about miniature train models will most likely fill your social media feed with content about miniature train models.
Writer Dorcas Adisa explains that "In social media, algorithms are rules, signals and data that govern the platform’s operation. These algorithms determine how content is filtered, ranked, selected and recommended to users. In some ways, algorithms influence our choices and what we see on social media.” (Adisa, 2024c).
At the core, all social media platforms are focused on connecting like-minded people to community groups and brands. Algorithms are how those connections are made possible.
Creating content for different social media platforms
Different communication channels require different types of content. Social media is no different from any other communication channel. In the same way you would create different content for radio than for newspapers, it is the same for social media content. Though it is definitely not a one-size-fits all scenario. The way we create content changes as social media platforms evolve, which will influence how your audience interacts with your social media content. This is something your museum will need to consider when deciding to incorporate social media into your communications plan.
For example, short-form video social media platforms like TikTok influence how users create videos on its platform. Short, engaging and entertaining videos are often the template for many TikTok videos, with viral dance trends, 'how-to' videos and a peak in someone's 'day in the life' are examples of content that the platform’s algorithm thinks will be liked by a large number of people will be placed on their feeds.
Top different types of content for social media platforms
The table below outlines the primary content types and formats that are linked to some of the widely used social media platforms. Note that some of content types and formats are used across more than one social media platform.
Content type | Format | Social media platform |
News sharing | Website links or sharing news updates | Facebook, X (previously Twitter) |
Images | Content is focused on image first, with copy to either expand or explain what the image consists of. | |
Video | The message is in the video, text is sometimes included in a post to either expand or explain what the video consists of. | TikTok, Instagram, Facebook |
Limitations
While many people use social media, how they use social media differs. This difference in social media usage means that the goal you need to meet using social media and how people engage or react to your social media content might not be the same. Some people engage with social media content by commenting, responding to your message by 'liking' (or even disliking) your posts and sharing your message with their social network. Others might simply 'lurk'. These people see your content but don't interact with the content or your social media community. They consume the information on their social media feeds.
The different social media platforms also limit how much information you can share. Some are more limited than others. On X (previously Twitter), you have 280 characters to share your message, while on Facebook you have 63,206 characters. Instagram limits your post after 2,200 characters. Even if you have a lot of characters to use to share your message, it doesn't mean you should. The character limits and the number of photos and videos you can upload per post to ensure that you have to be clear and concise with your message. Use social media as an entry portal that can direct people to your blog or online collection on your website.
You can't necessarily rely on a single social media post or even a social media campaign featuring a strategically planned calendar to meet all of your goals. While there are examples of successful social media campaigns that have met such targets, they are usually a part of a communications plan. These social media campaigns are the responsibility of a social media or marketing team or team member whose sole focus is to design, implement and manage these campaigns. Of course, it is not impossible to reach these goals if you are a one-person team, it will just mean that you need to plan, be resourceful and patient to get results.
Social media's role in the museum's communications plan
While people use social media at a high rate, you need to manage your expectations of what social media can and can't do as part of the museum's communications plan.
There is a lot of 'noise' that you need to compete with to get your message to your museum community on social media. Corporations spend millions of dollars on social media advertisements and organic content is created every minute around the world by individuals and social media influencers.
Posting on social media should never be a stand-alone activity. When you want to post content on social media, it should be a part of the overall communications plan of a museum activity. Once you have a communications plan in place for your museum activity, you can create a social media campaign within the communications plan that will help the museum achieve the overall objectives of the communications plan.
The social media campaign will have clear, measurable metrics that will tell you if the outcome of the social media campaign met the communications plan's overall objectives. Including social media campaigns in your communication plan ensures that you create content strategically and helps you allocate your time and resources accordingly.
It can be an overwhelming space to work in, but with the right strategy and an understanding of its limitations and drawbacks, you can make social media a fun and engaging part of your museum's communications plans.
People can learn about the museum’s purpose and explore the museum's collection digitally if they are not able to visit the museum in person. With increasing ways to monetise social media content, you will even have the ability to run fundraising campaigns on social media.
More importantly, having a social media presence allows people to engage with you in real time and ask questions about the museum or provide feedback and valuable insights.
With a clear understanding about how social media can help your museum communicate to your audience, and it can be a powerful way to connect and engage with your museum community.
References:
Adisa, D. (2024, April 10). Everything you need to know about social media algorithms. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-algorithms/
Kemp, S. (2024, February 20). 5 billion social media users — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights. DataReportal – Global Digital Insights. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-deep-dive-5-billion-social-media-users
Statista. (2024, July 10). Most used social networks 2024, by number of users. https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/
Further reading: Gen Z: How young people are changing activism. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220803-gen-z-how-young-people-are-changing-activism
New culture of community. https://ads.tiktok.com/business/creativecenter/inspiration/deck/new-culture-of-community/pc/en
Social media activism in 2024: How to go beyond the hashtag. https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-activism/
Pinterest Trends. https://trends.pinterest.com/
Image credits in order of appearance
Photo by cottonbro studio
Photo by Alicia Steels on Unsplash
Photo by Maryke Benadé (All rights reserved)
Huberta Consulting blogs covers communications strategy, museum communications, content strategy and a range of other museum-centered topics.
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