Comments on: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

By: Positive Examples of Social Media in Fine Arts: Museums | Social Media in Fine Arts

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 04:32:47 +0000

[…] Another museum that preaches the consolidation of efforts is the Brooklyn Museum (as noted in a post in their own blog). Leaders of this museum say it is important to have a presence where people are. […]

By: Shelley Bernstein

Shelley Bernstein — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:17:44 +0000

Hey Jason – you’ve hit the nail on the head here – Richard’s perspective is not necessarily one of our typical visitor who’s experiencing our interchanges on the social networks and it’s that visitor that we are aiming to serve and where we want to focus our resources. Also spot on about the issue of how many people to how many channels while still keeping things personal. It’s a very big issue. We have tried various experiments to aggregate and cross post information to many channels and while it’s less work for us, visitors have made it clear that they dislike that approach and want a more personal exchange. Even with no dedicated person on staff for social, we still aim to take the time.

By: Jason Thibeault

Jason Thibeault — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:40:36 +0000

Absolutely agree and that’s a very valid strategy. Simply coming at it from the angle presented by Richard. If there isn’t the constant updating it gives the appearance of “stretching thin.” Because, if you are going to keep it personal in each channel, then it’s a matter of resources. How many people does it take to engage with users through how many social channels (funny equation there, I think)?

By: Shelley Bernstein

Shelley Bernstein — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:28:05 +0000

Hi Jason – We do use the APIs quite a bit. I’m not sure I totally agree that there needs to be a hub, per se. Hubs often function more as marketing vehicles by creating an aggregate page of all the activity and make it look good. That may make it “look” a certain way, but it’s not what we are after. As you know, most people don’t leave the social network they are on – they would rather have all the information right at their fingertips on that particular social site, which is what we aim for. I’d rather not create a hub and instead have a genuine presence in the networks we are on – posting when we have something to say and keeping communication from a personal voice instead of an institutional one, when possible.

Hi Vincent – Long time, my friend – it’s good to hear from you! We are thinking about Google+, but are conscious of making sure we can do something there that is really meaningful for the platform. The hangouts are a great way to connect with others – we want to make sure we can allocate the resources before jumping on board….or trim in other areas so we can accomodate the additional platform. The issues around spreading thin are real ones and though I don’t necessarily agree with the specific case Richard makes in his RWW blog post, the issue is something we think about here a lot.

Andy – Friendster…if only we had been on there too we would have been running into this much earlier!

By: Vincent Brown

Vincent Brown — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:01:59 +0000

Speaking of moving to new social networks I’ve noticed your absence on Google+. I’ve run a search on your name and Brooklyn Museum a couple of times over the past two months hoping that you’ve set up camp there. Some museums have moved in already such as the Penn, Oriental Institute, and others and I was wondering if and when you’ll be dipping your toes in there soon?

For the past month I’ve been running Archaeology Hangouts on Google+. It’s been a great way to connect up with all those interested in heritage. I think others who can ‘tune in’ can benefit from the discussions there so will soon be recording and streaming them to reach a larger audience. There is a often a large focus on technological applications in the field of Heritage and Archaeology. I’m often spouting the foresight and technical prowess of the Brooklyn Museum to others so would love to have you attend sometime to talk about your role.

See http://archaeologyhangout.com for more information if you are interested.

By: Jason Thibeault

Jason Thibeault — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:50:39 +0000

As I posted in comment on the RWW article, I don’t think your social media net is in question. It’s how things are connected that is causing the reaction of “appearing to be neglected.” I believe that to be effective in social media marketing/engagement, you have to be involved in all the places precisely because each social media outlet appeals to different users. Sure, some people may be cross outlet users but it’s probably safe to say that any given 50% of one channel are not members of another. It’s critical then to embrace everything. But it should be clear in your social media strategy where the “hub” is. With the proclivity of APIs, it’s fairly easy to connect things together now so you can have a primary place to post content that clearly distributes it throughout your social media network.

http://blog.jasonthibeault.com/index.php/2011/09/07/how-to-casting-the-social-media-net/

@jnthibeault

By: Andy Catlin

Andy Catlin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Thanks for that – struggling with exactly the same issues and coming to the same conclusions. Now, if everyone had just stuck to Friendster…