Museums and Twitter

MuseumNext conduct an online survey about Twitter and the way that museums should use it. They asked museums to have their followers help with the research and over 1000 people participated.

Over ¾ of those who follow museum tweets are over 25. More women follow museums then men. The public mostly wants to use twitter for exhibit and events info.

Over half of people had actually visited the museums they follow and when asked if they would attend an exhibition if suggested by a friend 93% said yes.

When asked what they were looking for with the museum’s tweets people responded:
- To engage with people interested in that museum or gallery. To make people feel special. To have a conversation
- Extending the museum experience beyond the gallery walls, exhibit news, discounts, discussions
- Tell background stories and share information that will make you want to go and see an exhibition even more: enrich their program
- Informing people about new exhibitions, news relating to the museum, talking to people about the exhibits if they have specific questions
- Help further its brand — is it a fun place for families and kids? Then tweet funny facts based on the collection. Is it a gallery with amazing art? Tweet about commentary and opinion of that art. A lot of followers are not local, so don’t tweet exclusively about events. Point me in the direction of related topics, for instance, a nat hist museum could tweet about a recent paleo find in China.

It appears that there is a place for Twitter to be used to attract new visitors and keep interests in exhibits.