CAG on museums: Social media and museum engagement

I honestly hadn’t realized there was so much chatter over the issue of blogging and its relevance in the academic world. Being fairly new to blogging about my job and a few other interests related to anthropology, I had assumed that the power of using a blog as social media was simply to keep writing in general and if that media inspires ideas or input for bigger projects then it has been successful if not entertaining to reflect on retrospectively.

In the past week I’ve read quite a few critiques and defenses of the academic blog (not exactly what this blog is by the way). The idea of a very ‘serious’ blog doesn’t seem to really capture the point of one in the first place, and as the debates have continued about whether blogging has a place in academic publishing it seems that most people have missed the point.

Perhaps since I work in a museum, it seems more likely that because I interact with the public I should be able to explain what I do, research, and am interested in for a general audience. Writing online definitely has nothing to do with speaking to an academic audience, other than that perhaps a blogger might have some communication skills in my opinion which aren’t emphasized enough in academia. How many academics really step out of their academic jargon comfort zone and just interact with colleagues and the general public through normal communication? Academia tends not to change as quickly as online formats of communication, but nonetheless, opportunities to communicate should be taken on.

It seems more now than ever, at least in the museum academic sector, that the idea of being social media savvy and capable is very important. I’ve heard countless talks about how museums engage with the public through social media, and there are workshops (today!) to discuss these issues in depth (June 7 Newcastle University ICCHS workshop). It is no doubt an important skill to be able to remove oneself from academic writing and write for a wider audience, but because of the fleeting nature of social media itself, to expect that any post, tweet, blog, or update on social media will stand as a legacy of a researcher is to misunderstand the main purpose of social media as a tool for networking, promotion, and at times self-motivation.

CAG on museums: Museums and Heritage Show 2013

Olympia exhibition hall

For the last few days, I’ve been down in London at a conference on museums, heritage, and general museum practice. There were many topics covered such as funding for museums and the possible hardships coming up for UK arts institutions, marketing and knowing your audiences, the difficulty of exhibition designs, and the use of social media. Overall, there was a very wide focus on museum strategy, retail, and design, which are all things that can be constantly improved to aid the success of museums and visitor experience.

Football Museum presentation

 Of the more exciting talks, within the spectrum of conference nerd-timez, was a talk called ‘Social media through thick and thin’, which was given by the marketing team from the Football Museum in Manchester and focused on their ability to connect to new and old audiences by engaging through social media.

V&A 'The challenges of exhibiting costumes'

Another, really interesting insight was given by the curators and designers of the V&A’s ‘Hollywood Costume’ on the challenges of exhibiting costumes, the conservation issues for those specific textiles, how to preserve the feeling of action relevant to motion pictures, and how to convey a sense of being in a film set to create the Hollywood vibe of the exhibition.

Morris Hargreaves McIntyre on Grayson Perry

Although I work mainly with anthropology collections, I am very interested in the world of contemporary fashion and the inclusion of this into museum collections for world cultures (my previous post on this issue for Pacific fashion). I attended other interesting talks on audience engagement through exhibitions and collections research, but the V&A one really stuck with me.  Here are a few nicked photos of the costumes from the exhibition, because I have a whole new appreciation for the complexity of textile mounting now.

Credit: Chole Nelkin

Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for The V&A