As we have been learning in class, the landscape for museums
(and libraries and archives) has been changing and evolving with new
technologies. Web 2.0 has brought new
challenges and opportunities to the museum community. It is mentioned in a study that it is now the
museum in regards to the patron, not the patron in regards to the museum.[i] Social media sites have become a large player
for museums. Museums have used these
sites for different reasons and with varying degrees of success. I looked at
the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum’s use of social media. The social media sites the JFK Library uses
are Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Twitter. I found that they use
social media sites primarily for promotional material with some aimed at user
engagement.
Youtube
The JFK Library has 4,393 subscribers to their account on
Youtube, though from looking at the amount of views of their videos, the
audience is much greater than it.[ii] They have posted many videos on this site.
The videos are from the archive with footage of President Kennedy from his
campaign and presidency as well as videos of the current event happenings at
the Library. The current events at the library are the forums they host there. This
channel is great for access to individuals looking for footage of JFK or if
they are interested in a forum that the library hosted. The archival footage is videos that are of
interest for people studying JFK and videos on topics that are still relevant
today. There is a video of JFK delivering
remarks on the separation of Church and State. It has been viewed 90,938 times. They have
tried to provide online content that will be more popular. It widens the audience beyond the people that
are just on the library’s website. One
thing that the library has done is disable comments on Youtube. This can limit the amount of engagement the
audience can have with the resources they post.
While I think this outlet is a great resource for people, there is no
opportunity to engage in the material presented.
Facebook
Facebook is another social media site that the JFK Library
utilizes and has acquired 26,389 followers.[iii] On Facebook they post about current events at
the library as well as images from the digital archive. Comments are allowed in this platform,
however the comments rarely contribute to the content on the site. The library posts many photographs from their
collection and most comments are remarks on how cute John, Jr. is or about the
tragedies that have happened in that family.
While the information that users are providing is not adding to the
understanding of the image or insightful, it does have a level of engagement
for the user. They are able to reflect
on the image and post about their feelings on the subject of the image.
A recent post from November 1st on Facebook did
actively ask the users to engage. It was
a photo that was taken while C-SPAN was at the library filming a special on
Jacqueline Kennedy. It asked the users
if they knew any of the dresses that were in the image. A few users did respond and were able to
identify the dresses and where the First Lady wore them. However, there has been no response from the
library on the accuracy of the users.
They asked people to engage, but then they did not follow through.
Pinterest
The JFK Library also uses Pinterest.[iv] This site is mainly used for visual materials
from the archive. It is not a place one
would go for information on current events at the library. There is a board for the museum store, Jackie
Kennedy’s dresses, and more. This site is not updated very often. Users can come here is they just want a
snapshot of some of the collection. The
user involvement is mainly only repins. Beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be
much interaction with the material on Pinterest.
Tumblr
Tumblr is another social media site that is used by the
library.[v] The Tumblr site does not have as many posts
and is not as active as some of their other social media accounts. The posts on here mainly consist of quotes
from JFK and images from the archive.
Similar to Pinterest, it is not a place that the library posts about
current events that are happening at the library.
Twitter
The last social media site that the JFK Library uses is
Twitter.[vi] While some of the postings are similar to
those on Facebook, the library is more active on Twitter. They will often have multiple posts on the
same day. The posts are mainly about
events and the collection. There are
very few conversations with the users and their followers. But I think that people have more interaction
with the content on Facebook. The JFK
Library currently has two Twitter accounts. They also have created a special
Twitter account for the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s
death.[vii] Here they post about what JFK did during his
last 100 days in office. Like with their
main Twitter page, there is not much user engagement with the content.
User Engagement
Although JFK Library’s use of social media has been lacking
when thinking about thoughtful user engagement, there has been one recent and
one current project that stood out to me.
These two projects reach out to users to participate. On September 18th, 2013 they
participated in Ask a Curator day.[viii] Many museums participated in this event that
allowed people to ask questions using Twitter to their favorite museums. The JFK Library had two curators and an
archivist available for questions from the public at a specific time that
day. People used the hashtag
#askacurator. Looking at the interactions from this event, there were quite a
few questions with some great responses from the staff. It appears to have been a success with
getting people involved and asking questions.
A user asked, “What is your favorite object in your collection?”[ix] The two curators and the archivist
answered. This event allowed the JFK
Library to interact with patrons about the collection. It gave them the ability to showcase the
parts of the collection that the public is interested in.
The other new interactive web resource for patrons is the
website anidealiveson.org. While this is
not a social media site, people can participate through Twitter. Users can submit stories about how the legacy
of JFK plays a role in their lives today through Twitter or the website. This is a current project and they intend to
create a film with the submissions. This
film will be released on November 18th.
The JFK Library participates in many social media
outlets. While there is overlap of some
of the material posted through these sites, they have tried to play to each
ones strengths. This is particularly
noticeable with Twitter and Facebook.
These are the ones that have the most presence for users. Both of them allow comments on the
posts. While it may be nice to have
insightful commentary on these sites on the topics that the records are
representing, it is difficult to enforce and it may discourage users from
engaging with the materials even more.
Twitter and Facebook are also the only two that provide direct links
back to the original record at jfklibrary.org.
These are the only sites that provide the context for the images and
other posts about their collection. The
other sites do not provide that information.
I do not think that they can be considered places to go for researchers.
Even though they may reach a larger audience through the use of social media,
the context is not always there. This is
especially the case with Pinterest and Tumblr.
On these sites there is no way to easily access the digital record on the
JFK Library’s website. Overall, the conclusion that I can make is
that the use of social media appears to be more promotional rather than
engaging in nature. While this is still
a valuable use of social media, it does not add to the information presented to
users. In this regards, the social media
sites can only be thought of as gateways to the materials.
[i] Wendy
Duff, et al., “The Changing Museum Environment in North America and the Impact
of Technology on Museum Work,” Cultural
Heritage on line (2009): 3.
[iii] John
F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/JFKLibrary
[iv] JFK
Library Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/jfklibrary/
[v] John
F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Musuem Tumblr. http://jfklibrary.tumblr.com/
[vi] JFK
Library Twitter. https://twitter.com/jfklibrary
[vii] JFK_1963
Twitter. https://twitter.com/JFK_1963
[viii]“Ask a Curator Day - September 18, 2013.” Storify.
http://storify.com/JFKLibrary/ask-a-curator-day-september-18-2013
[ix] http://storify.com/JFKLibrary/ask-a-curator-day-september-18-2013
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