Artifact 9:The Spirit of Sharing

A decade ago, a museum’s website consisted of its hours, location, special events, and other information.  It lacked the new technology features that have taken over webpages today.  Now museums are using technology and popular tools on their websites to enhance their popularity.  They want people coming back for more.  Adopting the new video chats, and connecting with social networking sites are less about the technology and more about getting the visitors involved.  Some social sites that museums use allow curators and online visitors to communicate and learn from each other.   Museums have always been a place for learning and now social media is enhancing the learning process.  With every new technology that pops up on the market, there is a caveat in the road.  Online engagement is stimulating but the museum experts are trying to keep people looking at art and not at their computer screen.  As technology changes so do museums, they are trying to stay current and keep up with popular use of technology.  They are doing this by add wireless in old museums, and keeping up with social media.   Museums are adding their own touches on the media by keeping people stimulated in the arts.  Different museums are trying new techniques.  Some are taking pictures of artwork and posting it online, others are putting up information that includes the amount of visitors, the amount energy used in the museum and what the experts are saying about the artwork.  It is a nice balance between personal and scholarly voices.  There is a lot of pressure for museums to change their old ways of connecting to the public and start adopting social media traits to their sites.  Museums have to compete with sites that are bigger, better, and faster.  Museums have stepped up to the plate and are using their websites as the main entrance, giving viewers’ slideshows of their artwork, videos, games, and interactive tools.  The Guggenheim and other museums are using Youtube to increase their yearly visitors.  In the end, art is still picked out by scholar and just using technology to get more people through the doors. 

As the saying goes “if it aint broke don’t fit it”.  As much as I believe in this saying, time have changed and for companies to survive they have to include social media on their websites.  I appreciate the fact that museums are still putting their focus on the artwork but are adding technology to increase the amount of people that come through their doors.  Even with the demand to keep up with the fast pass of technology, I was never a person that explored a museum’s website.  I found interesting museums by word of mouth.  When I went to New York City for spring break, I went Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I heard about it from people on the trip.  If I really enjoyed going to museums I probably would use their websites and engage in the actives online.