Textiles101 + Wrapping Up Museums & Social Media

This past semester I took a course on Museums + Social Media. Before starting the class, I figured that as a millennial, I knew everything there was to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (and blogging). I was wrong.

Today, as I created the PowerPoint for our presentation on Wednesday at the Textile Museum, I reflected on everything we've learned so far. We learned how to take the essence of a museum and translate it into tangible goals for social media posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. My team and I learned how to calculate current audience statistics and establish a target audience and ways of reaching them. My team and I were also able to do the same with social media platform information given to us by the Textile Museum. We calculated average responses to posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and created goals to increase meaningful interactions on each platform. We created categories of posts that would attract the broadest audiences within the target audience age group: 18-24. We also created content examples that aligned with mission statements, our stated goals based off of the spirit of the Textiles101 room. Finally, we came up with suggestions to incorporate into the Textiles101 room that would facilitate and promote the sharing of experiences within the museum and outside of the museum. These suggestions including the addition of a physical display case for visitors to submit and have their designs on display for others to see in addition to an online platform for submissions to be displayed on the tv within the room. Additionally, we suggested the museum invest in vinyl hashtags on their walls for visitors to follow and tag their experiences.

This project, which we worked on for the majority of the semester, is coming to a close on Wednesday. I am interested in seeing the responses of the staff at the Textile Museum, and I sincerely hope we were able to give return the favor of having learned so much.