Social media and cultural interactive experiences in museums

Social media such as blogs, wikis and digital stories facilitate knowledge exchange through social networking. Such media create a new forum within which dispersed audiences including youth, regional and rural communities can engage with museums to actively debate notions of identity, and voice these reflections online. Social media can impact on formal and informal learning within the museum and the effect that this may have on notions of cultural identity. This represents a shift in the ways in which museums: l act as trusted cultural online networks; l distribute community knowledge; and l view their role as custodians of cultural content. Museum communication systems such as exhibitions, public programs, outreach and education seek to provide complex cultural interactive experiences. Social media challenge existing communication models, and few museums have clear strategies for engaging communities in content creation. This paper will investigate some of the issues surrounding the use of social media in museum programs and will argue that there are strong epistemological reasons for using social media to add value to museum programs.