Bringing culture and citizens closer together through mediation on social networks

The formula is well known  to stir up the crowds, you have to create movement and frenzy. That's the idea behind commercial animation. On a television set, the hosts are there to make it feel like we're getting an overexcited audience despite the pauses and lengths.

Commercials employ sales to create a sense of interest among consumers who will come to them. Yet for a cultural institution like a museum, how do you create engagement? Sure, temporary exhibits can get some attention in the media for a while. But how do you do it beyond that?

The Museum Recipe

That's why more and more, museums and tourist venues are hiring community managers. A term that would no longer be accurate since the community management side is only part of the job. Whether it's for a brand or a museum, we should be talking about a social media manager instead. Because he now defines marketing objectives, he makes sure they are consistent with the image of the institution, he plans and readjusts the editorial line, performs monitoring and checks the effects of different campaigns on people. An imposing job that has been built as mediation has changed.

The visitor as promoter

There was a time when cell phones, photo-taking and the like were rather frowned upon in museum institutions. Today, fewer and fewer of them are resisting. In fact, they have realized that there are ways to further integrate visitors into the life of the museum and vice versa. With, for example, the creation of Twitter keywords such as #MuseumWeek or the promotion of activities in museums through Facebook pages; all of this gives the public a sense of ownership of the institutions.

It is no longer just about displaying works, but becomes a place to bring them and citizens together. To this end, social networks are now seen as essential in cultural mediation. Indeed, these means of communication can give as much information about the backstage of an exhibition as to communicate with art experts.

An outreach that can even serve internationally. For example, three French museums are in the top non-Chinese institutions on the Weibo network, which means that even foreigners can be animated and interested in institutions to eventually visit them. If this works for museums, can other cultural institutions benefit?

Can libraries get in on the action?

The thinking is, in any case, for libraries. Indeed, the buildings that have become media libraries and are gradually being transformed into creative workshops, do not yet have a very assiduous presence on social networks. According to 2015 statistics, out of the 4 400 public libraries and 500 university libraries in France, only 420 are on Facebook and 248 on Twitter. This is therefore a marginal number that uses these tools. The figures are even more meager on video or photo networking platforms. In a context, however, where libraries could more than ever demonstrate their expertise and gain a community, animation seems paramount.

However, they could take a cue from the BNF (Bibliothèque nationale de France), which has literally gotten into the game and sees the benefits of such an approach. On the December 17, 2016 RFI program " Atelier des médias ", two officials recounted how this transformation is in line with contempoirian cultural mediation. The institution also has, like many museums, an exhibition principle which other libraries do not have. Yet, this does not preclude space for these institutions to animate their community.

The museum recipe, while still in its infancy given the rather conservative environment, is paving the way for a more modern approach to cultural mediation. We're still in the early stages, but there's plenty of inspiration for many institutions and art fields to follow suit without betraying their specificities.

Reference 

Gaillard, Romain. "L'animation De Communauté, Nouvelle Frontière De La Bibliothèque?" Bulletin Des Bibliothèques De France. Last updated : 29 September 2016. http://bbf.enssib.fr/revue-enssib/consulter/revue-2016-04-005.

Le Bot, Julien. "Qu'est-ce Qu'une Institution Culturelle à L'heure Du Numérique?" RFI. Last updated : 17 December 2016. http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20161217-institution-culturelle-numerique-musees-medias-reseaux-sociaux.

"Les Réseaux Sociaux " culture ", Un Nouvel Espace De Dialogue." Ministry Of Culture. Last updated : 27 November 2014. http://www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr/Actualites/Les-reseaux-sociaux-culture-un-nouvel-espace-de-dialogue.

"Louvre, Army And Orsay: 3 Most Powerful Non-Chinese Museums On Chinese Social Networks." Club Innovation & Culture CLIC France. Last updated : 17 May 2017. http://www.club-innovation-culture.fr/louvre-armee-orsay-3-musees-non-chinois-plus-puissants-reseaux-sociaux-chinois/.

Magro, Sebastien. "About Cultural Mediation on Digital Networks." Reflections On The Digital At The Museum. Last updated : 21 March 2016. http://blog.sebastienmagro.net/2016/03/21/de-lusage-des-reseaux-socionumeriques-comme-supports-dune-mediation-culturelle-en-ligne/.

"Social networks: these new spaces of dialogue for museums." Museum 21. Accessed June 29 2017. http://www.musee21.com/reseaux-sociaux-ces-nouveaux-espaces-de-dialogue-pour-les-musees/.

Verchère, Arnaud. "The Community Manager Is No More...." Digital Century. Last updated : 4 November 2016. https://siecledigital.fr/2016/11/04/community-manager-nest-plus/.