Dr Arran Rees to share research on social media and museums in new seminar series
Dr Arran Rees will speak on social media platforms as sites for contemporary collecting in museums as part of a new seminar series organised by the Museum Social Media Cultures Research Network.
Museum and Social Media Online Seminars will bring together researchers and museum professionals to discuss how museums and visitors use social media. Sessions are weekly and focus on idea exchange, with topics such as museums in virtual spaces and how users connect online.
Taking place over six weeks, the seminars are run by the Museum Social Media Cultures Research Network. Established earlier this year, the Network aspires to understand the transformation of behaviours, practices and values in and outside the museums developed by the use of social media. Its mission is to cultivate a vibrant community of researchers committed to advancing knowledge, innovation and best practices in this evolving intersection.
The Museum Social Media Cultures Research Network was set up by a group of six researchers from across the globe, including Dr Arran Rees, a Research Associate in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies.
Arran will explore Social Media as a Site for Contemporary Collecting at the final online seminar in the series, taking place at 4pm GMT+1 on 11 April.
Arran Rees said:
“ This is an exciting time to be thinking critically about the role of social media for museums and cultural heritage. I am really happy to be a part of this network with brilliant colleagues, and I hope the seminar series helps the network develop into a larger and wider ranging group of researchers and practitioners.
“My talk on 11 April will look at how we might consider social media platforms as sites for contemporary collecting in museums.
"As more and more of our contemporary culture plays out on these digital platforms, they become increasingly important as environments where cultural, technical, and political events and developments unfold.
"During the seminar, we will look at the types of collecting that might take place through social media, some of the practical considerations around acquiring and accessioning social media artifacts and reflect on the ethical dimensions of collecting from social media.
"Four case studies will consider how collecting born-digital objects from social media sites adds layers of complexity to the acquisition process:
- participatory collecting through the work of the Collecting Social Photo project;
- mass collecting through the Library of Congress early attempt at collecting Twitter (or should we say X);
- exploratory collecting through the National Science and Media Museum’s ‘Absolute Unit’ meme acquisition; and
- the influence of curatorial positioning in social media collecting activities by the Victoria and Albert Museum and Museum of London.
"There are ethical dimensions to any collecting activity and collecting from social media raises questions around informed consent, responsible approaches to preservation, and notions of ownership. The talk will touch on all of these and offer opportunities to reflect on and discuss the implications of them."
More information
Find out about the Museum Social Media Cultures Research Network.
See the full programme of Museum and Social Media Online Seminars.
The seminars are free to attend and are ideal for researchers, students, museum professionals and social media managers. Book your place.
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Photo of Arran Rees.