Instagram at the Museum

Museums around the world have been using Instagram to show their archives across social media since as early as 2011. Since then Museums have started to use hashtags to collect together information that users can then find at the touch of a button. This new way of viewing historical information through what is supposed to be a social media app, is further proof of the emerging participatory culture in todays web.



"NARA's policy on Instagram states "here we'll post pictures and videos of behind the scenes looks, shots from our exhibits, special events and more, all through the eyes of Instagrams trademark vintage filters" (Bente,Jenson, 2014) This movement and idea of using Instagram to store historical archives, is a revolution of technology, and in addition to this proof that an active audience is now being encouraged rather than supressed, people are now beginning to realise that with the help of users social media can become a hub for sharing and connecting people together, The realisation that today's youth is less interested in attending exhibitions and broadening their knowledge and more interested in technology and social agenda has made people take a step back and think about ways in which they can combine the two in order to make sure these archives are still seen and noticed and not just limited to an older generation. It could be said however that the use of technology to store these archives is encouraging the youth of today to refrain from visiting museums and seeing the exhibitions for themselves.

National US archives.

In Jenses Journal it says; Critics might argue that the quality of Instagrams photographs might not show the exhibitionists work in its full potential therefore lessening the quality of the owners work. However another reason for having these archives up on social media, is shown through an exhibition run by Riksarkvet. "the use of hashtags on Instagram was used by the museum to encourage users to upload past memories of summer using the hashtag #arkivsommer."(Jenson,2014) This was a way of not only exhibiting their summer exhibition but also gave users and the artists an insight into what other people felt the exhibition meant to them, behind the scenes photos and their own photographs. This use of participatory culture adds a new layer to the exhibition an outsiders view, and therefore makes it more interesting for a consumer here the museum has seen the issues with people lacking interest in museum exhibitions and not only fixed it but also added more depth to the meaning of the work.





In the Journal "Instagram in the Photo Archives Curation, Participation, and Documentation through Social Media" by Jenson it is argued that this use of Instagram conflicts with the meaning of the app in that the photos uploaded are meant to be "instant" not historical.
Although this is true, Instagram encourages the uploading of old photos for example the use of the hashtag "tbt" or "throwback thursday" users are encouraged to upload old photos from the past, maybe even photos that they wouldn't have had the chance to share with their followers because they were before the time of Instagram. Therefore, is uploading archives on a social media app such a bad thing? Would it not have been done in the first place if such technology existed? The use of participation within this exhibitions just means that the exhibition is shown to a broader range of people, which is what the artist would've wanted in the first place. This case study is a clear example of the benefits that producers gain from accepting participatory culture as a way of benefitting their products not as a disadvantage.

Example of #tbt used by celebrities on Instagram





The Old Museum, did a similar thing with their exhibition "Aarhus Rocks" working closely with a local music festival, and a media school they encouraged students to take photos from the music festival to help aid exhibiting "live contemporary music today." from this a small minority of the photos were added to the archive collection. In Jensons journal it states " the museum emphasises the importance of the fact that new young audiences have been reached and that they are active in the collective collection process." The use of media students to aid research for an educational exhibition using an app they feel comfortable with only encourages young people more this clever use of Instagram successfully proves that working with users to create a successful campaign that can be viewed at the touch of a button works, and the use of hashtags is so much more than just a social agenda. Jenson states "the hashtag is more than a collection of characters it is an efficient tool to be used to reach new audiences facilitate streams of conversation, and connect people together." Could Instagram therefore be an extremely important tool that institutions cannot afford to ignore?

#NS13 collection of photos uploaded by media students for the "Aarhus Rocks" exhibition.