for Engaging Audiences in BC History? Why Use Social Media for Engaging Audiences in BC History?

Why Use It? It connects organizations directly with their market The struggle for market attention has become intense We need to democratize history particularly at the community, regional and provincial level It’s ‘free’ (paid for by advertising and data harvesting) Network effect kicks in (as more people join, the more effective it is – so even more people join)

What Is Social Media? Is it a scourge or a blessing? Immediate Easily used Accessible Has a wide reach (potentially global) The quality of postings has high variance: from very high-quality items to low-quality, sometimes even abusive or inappropriate content

The Market Heavy social media users, such as young people, check their social media account numerous times throughout the day. In 2018 - 66% of all Americans have access to a Facebook account in the USA 75% of account holders use it every day Canadian stats are probably similar

Usage This is a list of the leading social networks based on number of active user accounts as of August 2017. Facebook: 2,047,000,000 users YouTube: 1,500,000,000 users WhatsApp: 1,200,000,000 users Facebook Messenger: 1,200,000,000 users WeChat: 938,000,000 users QQ: 861,000,000 users Instagram: 700,000,000 users QZone: 638,000,000 users Tumblr: 357,000,000 users Twitter: 328,000,000 users Sina Weibo: 313,000,000 users Baidu Tieba: 300,000,000 users Skype: 300,000,000 users Viber: 260,000,000 users Snapchat: 255,000,000 users Reddit: 250,000,000 users Line: 214,000,000 users Pinterest 175,000,000 users

Social Media: It is currently a way of the future (go digital or be ignored!) But changing norms are not always positive Realize that static / passive webpages are ineffective Needs to generate a ‘high signal to noise ratio’ to be successful Increasingly becoming manipulated by ‘trolls’ and unscrupulous outside forces

Understanding the Medium: It is not electronic print, it behaves differently It has its own conventions, processes, language admin functions vs engagement vs content Social media linked to an active website can be very successful website vs ‘blog’ An organization may need both

Practical concerns: it’s cost effective (cost per contact very low) it reaches wider audiences (its where the audience is) its active rather than passive print media is getting expensive postage is very expensive people don’t own books as much people don’t read print media as much A Social Media Group may require a ‘code of conduct’ Practical concern - how to archive the content?

Trends: Traditional audiences are aging Younger audiences don’t tend use print books, they prefer e-media Younger audiences are not currently very interested in history Museums are becoming cash-strapped, limiting what they can ‘afford’ Older audiences have the time, the interest and the money (the path of least resistance) People growing suspicious of social media like Facebook

Unanticipated outcomes: Constant demand for new content Webmaster often gets overloaded, criticized Contributors are often not used to writing for the web Older members may not use websites and blogs Not everyone who engages has good intentions Theft of images & content an issue Difficult to measure success May need to shift platforms as old ones become unfashionable

Indicators of Success Regular engagement by a body of dedicated ‘followers’ Lots of sharing & ‘likes’ Noticeable generation of new material (images and text) by new creators An increase in paid membership in your organization An increase in attendance or participation