With AI’s ability to automatically produce content and process complicated datasets with high accuracy, museums worldwide are exploring ways in which this innovative technology can help them better achieve their missions and advance accessibility efforts. Through case studies, learn about three applications of this technology: content digitalization, language accessibility, and visual description.
October was filled with new debates on AI policies, a halt to one of the most significant AI safety bills in the United States, and a host of new AI developments in video, music, and even podcasts.
Arts and cultural nonprofits often operate in multiple markets for earned and contributed revenue. With increasing attention on data-driven decision making, effective market orientation often depends on effective data use. This fundamental collection, transmission, use, and interpretation of data within an organization collectively contributes to what can be considered an organization’s data culture.
Museums have increasingly begun to volunteer their spaces as polling places, acting as a democratic vehicle for their communities and adding to the greater fabric of America’s election infrastructure. In doing so, they can support local democratic processes and prove to their communities that they are not unbreachable temples for the elite, but open platforms for the people.
As exemplified by the Hollywood strikes of 2023, we find ourselves in a new era of Artificial Intelligence in film and television. While studios are looking to cut costs, performers seek job security, and consumers seek quality content. Through research conducted in collaboration with facial motion capture technology provider Faceware Technologies Inc., Master of Entertainment Industry Management students at Carnegie Mellon sought to gain insight on how AI-generated content will transform existing industries, including how this technology could affect employment in the entertainment industry, content development, budgets, contracts, legislation, and privacy rights.
Harvard Business Review found that 43% of companies that use (or are planning to use) social media believe they are using it ineffectively. Do those companies think social media is a passing fad? Or, do they just not know what to do with it? When implementing a social media plan, several questions arise: Who will update it? When will they update it? How will we keep track of our company’s reputation on a medium that never sleeps?
Just when we thought photos was the new rage in social media, video steps into the mix. I’m not talking about the typical YouTube video providing “how to’s”, news clips, music, or hilarious propaganda, I’m talking about the 30 to 15-second video applications now available through Instagram and Vine. I’m a huge photo sharer on Instagram, especially when I’m attending a cultural event; I love sending photos to my followers from my seat before a performance begins. Video, however, is becoming more and more prominent in our everyday social media lives. What does this mean for the arts?
I don't know if you know but Technology in the Arts has a Twitter account - it's true! And @TechInTheArts has reached its goal of 10,000 Twitter followers! Huzzah! Break out the champagne! We're going to dance all night, such an achievement has never been reached by mankind before!* Unless, of course, 10,000 is an arbitrary number that just seems important. Sure, it's a milestone, but what does that really mean for an organization? What does that mean for Technology in the Arts?
FIRST: I want to direct you to this website where you can read an interview about HintMe with Merete Sanderhoff, a researcher at the National Gallery of Denmark, and a case study about the Danish museums using Twitter. But for the fast facts…
Who: The National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst) and 11 additional Danish art museums.
What: HintMe is a shared mobile platform with the aim of opening up museums' collections by making content re-useable and freely sharable. At the same time, the platform has the potential to increase user engagement with the museum, its artwork, and between visitors themselves. Here is why it is brilliant: HintMe makes use of an existing platform, Twitter, and a style of communication that has become increasingly familiar and popular, the hashtag. #sohotrightnow
“Marketers looking to get more the most bang for their buck with […] advertising might skip social media altogether” – Lauren Gores (Mashable)
The words stopped my social media manager heart cold – Facebook barely contributed anything to Black Friday sales and I can already hear the complaints now: Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. Everyone goes shopping on Black Friday. Everyone advertises on Facebook. If Everyone didn’t use Facebook to make purchasing decisions on Black Friday THEY NEVER WILL and we might as well give up now.
I could hear hypothetical red buttons being pushed as non-profits all over the country shut down their social media outreach. I was panicking. But were my fears entirely founded? Could non-profit organizations have a profit-driven relationship with social media, or is it strictly for community engagement?
This matter is irrelevant if non-profits are not using social media. Fortunately, the 2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report indicates that nonprofits are extremely present on social media. Ninety-eight percent of the nonprofits surveyed reported they had a presence on Facebook, and 72% maintained a presence on Twitter. This is especially impressive when you consider only 66% of American adults online use Facebook (Brenner) and only 15% of online adults utilize Twitter (Smith). Additionally, nonprofits manage an average of 2.9 pages on Facebook and 1.43 accounts on Twitter (“2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report”).
Why are these organizations so aggressively creating spaces for themselves in these realms? The organizations themselves identified marketing and fundraising as the top two purposes for maintaining a social media presence (“2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report”). These purposes are separate and not equal, however, as 93% identified marketing as a purpose while only 55% identified fundraising. Most reported that the responsibility for their social media pages fell to the Marketing department in 2012. This was a departure from every previous year, when the task fell to Communications. It is pretty clear that nonprofits feel their social media presences are vital marketing tools in a digital age.
Of course, I should return to the original question – should we panic at the concept of using social media to hawk one’s wares because mega retailers couldn’t hack it on Black Friday? Maybe. IBM reported that Facebook generated only 0.68% of online sales on Black Friday – less than last year’s Black Friday and actually much less than the sales generated on the Friday the week before (a whooping 0.82%) (“IBM 2012 Holiday Benchmark Reports”). Twitter contributed a grand total of 0% of the revenue – that’s not rounding down. That’s just a 0. Additionally, the IBM report also notes that the conversion rate of shoppers was only 4.58%, meaning that less than 5% of Americans who visited a webpage actually purchased anything on Black Friday.
Before anyone actually gives up hope for internet commerce, let’s consider these mysterious Black Friday shoppers. Marketers would have you believe it is Everyone who shops on Black Friday, as a matter of American tradition. This falls a bit short of the truth. A Gallup poll conducted before the actual day shows that only 18% of respondents planned to do any shopping on Black Friday (Newport). The majority of these respondents, 95%, listed the good sales/cheap prices as an “important reason” for their decision to shop on Black Friday. This is consistent with such a low conversion rate – potential shoppers visited webpages to search for deals and if they could not find them, simply left. So the idea of social media advertising being a failure is less true than it first appears: only a small percentage of Americans shop on Black Friday, most who visit a webpage do not purchase anything, so social media could not play a huge role in these sales because there was no huge role for it to fill. Additionally, as a Mashable article on the story pointed out, social ads “are a part of a larger strategy” that move people off their computer and into stores (Mashable).
Which brings me back to the question of whether or not social media should be used to sell things. The non-profits arts community has been considering this question recently as well. The past National Arts Marketing Project Conference (NAMPC) featured a panel on the subject. “Meet Your Customers Where They Live: How to Harness the Sales Power of Facebook” generated a lot of buzz on Twitter as attendees livetweeted the core messages of the panel. Twitter user Katy Peace (@katymatic) suggested the panel “has finally made a compelling case for this FB ticketing app.” Nella Vera (@spinstripes) quoted panelist Lisa Middleton in her tweet, “Lisa Middleton: FB sales for arts will succeed for same reason it failed for other retailers. Buying tix to cultural event is SOCIAL. #NAMPC”. Reinforcing the social element, Facebook profile pictures appear in the seat the user has purchased, creating a holistic, engaging experience.
“Tickets purchased on Facebook show Facebook profile pics in the seats purchased by that person. Brilliant. #NAMPC” - @ASC_CathyB
For me, that’s the rub. Social networks are called “social” for a reason. Social media marketing creates engaged online communities, and engaged communities will support a nonprofit. Only one third of the nonprofits who use Facebook to fundraise utilize individual giving (“2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report”). I think there is a real missed opportunity for non-profits to use social media as something more than marketing, and it lies with the few people who are willing to shop on Black Friday.
There is an interesting correlation between the users of social media and Black Friday shoppers. The largest group of respondents (34%) who indicated they would go shopping was ages 18 to 29 (Newport). Social media usage tends to skew towards younger users as well; half of Facebook and Twitter users fall between the ages of 18 and 35 (49% and 60% respectively) (Hampton). These users fall within the age range of the Millennial generation. Millennials know what they want and are interested in advancing a nonprofit’s mission. The majority (55%) prefer to learn about a non-profit organization through social media and even more (67%) have interacted with a non-profit on Facebook (“The Millennial Impact Report 2012”). Millennials prefer to give donations to non-profits, and an incredible 75% of them gave a financial gift to an organization in 2011.
In theory, this seems like a perfect recipe for success. We have a large population (the Millennials), who likes giving to organizations, and we know how/where they would like to send their contribution. And yet, only about half of non-profits actually fundraise on social media and these efforts are coming from Marketing, not the Development department (“2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report”). Where’s the disconnect happening?
Perhaps it correlates to the size of the gifts: Millennials tend to give less than $100 to any single organization (“The Millennial Impact Report 2012”). Many small non-profits may not have the time or resources to invest in cultivating such small gifts. These organizations have to consider the future investment of these individuals, however. Seventy percent of Millennials did give online last year, they prefer to give online, and that probably won’t change any time soon.
At this time, a profit-driven approach to social media is still a fringe idea within the non-profit world. There are options for organizations who want to be on the cutting edge, like ticket sales and fundraising through social media platforms. These ideas, while nascent, have been used to a degree of success by the organizations brave enough to adopt them. For the rest of the non-profit community, utilizing social media as a marketing tool is still a good strategy. And, while it’s disheartening that social media contributed so very little to Black Friday sales, it probably is not relevant.
Haven’t you heard? Pinterest: Now Officially Better Than Yahoo and Bing* *Sort of.
The story dropped earlier this month: Pinterest referred more people to websites in August than Yahoo and Bing. What that means is that more people visited Website X by clicking on content (generated from Website X) that is on Pinterest, than people did by searching for Website X on Yahoo or Bing. Which is huge – the little-social-media-that-could topped industry giants, if only by a few decimal points.
The report came from Shareaholic, a social media tool for sharing websites, on just about every social media platform. They have tools for sharing pages from your browser, to putting buttons on your site to allow your visitors to share your content. The Shareaholic Analytics tool tracks who’s sharing your work, and how visitors are reaching you – which is where this report comes from. Shareaholic Analytics also points out that traffic from Pinterest has doubled in the past four months and “is now the fourth largest traffic source in the world”. Can that possibly be true?
Maybe. Search Engine Optimization is a tricky beast and there are a few drawbacks to the report. Shareaholic can only measure the websites currently using its tools – which is a network of 200,000 publishers, who reach 300 million people each month. While that sounds like a suitable sample size, it does depend on the makeup and content of each website, their level of SEO sophistication, etc, etc.
Of course, why am I telling you this? The arts community, while generally not on the bleeding edge, hasn’t been idle on the Pinterest front. The always-cool SFMOMA has boards upon boards of art. The Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre boards give us a glimpse behind the scenes of their shows and soirees. Heck, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra pins everything from fanmail and music jokes to gorgeous music halls and their musicians. The fact is, Pinterest’s layout and content lends itself to arts organizations. (But for real people, you can pin videos – and I have yet to see a performances board!) Shareaholic says that Pinterest is one of the best ways to send people to your website. Why don’t you have one yet?
It could be time, it could be money, it's probably a mixture of both. Maybe, like skeptics of this report, you need more time to make an assessment. There are larger implications here: that “sharing” is greater than “searching,” visuals more important than text, and that your friends know what you should look at better than some algorithm. This was still just one report, using one social sharing service, for one month, however, and only time will tell if these trends continue – but maybe you and your organization should take a closer look at Pinterest. We have tools to help you set one up.
Your organization has been using social media for some time now. But does the staff know all rules? How to handle and respond appropriately to 
negative comments and criticism? What they can and not write on the organization’s page? How to fix errors in posts without compromising the integrity of the content the public has already shared on that post? Are employees allowed to “friend” your organization using their personal accounts? How do you ensure your brand image is enhanced, not threatened by social media usage throughout the organization?
A comprehensive, widely-circulated social media plan can eradicate these issues and guarantee all employees understand the procedures, policies, rules, and expectations for using social media to promote the organization’s brand.
A good social media policy will provide clear guidelines as to what staff should and shouldn’t do when posting and interacting with the community on a day-to-day basis, freeing them up to think more strategically. It’s also likely to help leadership feel more comfortable with the less-formal nature of social media by letting them establish boundaries for its use. -- from the Nonprofit Social Media Policy Workbook
If you do not have a social media plan, you are surely not alone. However, given this year’s projected estimate that Facebook will exceed 1 billion users and Twitter, 500 million, it’s time to protect what this SIZEABLE population has access to- your brand, your image, and your Facebook wall.
Above all, a social media plan is a LIVING document. As your organization experiments with trending social media platforms, faces new challenges, expands its presence online, or changes its online branding, the social media plan must reflect that growth. Below are guidelines, best practices, and resources to help you clearly define your social media objectives and policies in a complete and effective social media plan. And to clarify, an effective social media plan is not one that controls and restricts participation, rather, facilitates and encourages an open relationship with the public. I’m talkin' 24/7 PR.
1) Meet your new best friend: The Nonprofit Social Media Policy Workbook April 2012 (scroll down the page and click "Download the Report"). Download it. Swear by it. Love it. Be best friends with it forever. Thank you, idealware and Balance Interactive.
2) Determine if your social media plan will address policies for internal social media use (expectations for employee-to-employee use), procedures regarding proper usage and maintenance for PR purposes, and/or community guidelines for participation.
3) Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are the Big 3. If your organization employs one or all of these, be certain the plan includes specific guidelines for each platform.
4) Video blogs, written blogs, podcasts, wikis, community forums, and on and on and on…these need to be considered as well. Perhaps the plan is not as developed for these various platforms, but nonetheless, expectations for their usage should be made clear if your organization/brand is the subject.
5) RESIST THE INCREASINGLY ATTRACTIVE URGE TO COPY AND PASTE YOUR PLAN, especially when you realize your organization not only uses the Big 3, but also has a YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Wordpress account…
As Chris Boudreaux, a social media consultant said:
What is important are the differences that are unique to your particular organization and circumstances, and should be based on your business outcomes and how you conduct your business. Just don't copy everyone else's policy and put it in your database of procedures.
6) TRANSPARENCY. How public are we talking? Will the entire world have access to this document (like the Smithsonian Institution and NPR have done), just your Facebook community (as AARP has done in its "Company Information" section), or will it be an internal document for office staff only? Knowing who will receive this information will determine the language you use and the direction you take with it.
7) R
egardless of how public the document will be to the outside world- INTEGRATE IT. It should not be considered an isolated document. I’m going to be bold and take a wild guess that at least ONE person on your staff has a personal Facebook account, just one…Your organization's social media users need to know what is considered appropriate and inappropriate to say in reference of the organization, what copyright issues they may face when posting photos, when they can post things that are “off message” and who can friend whom. The social media plan should be included in the organization’s employee handbook- HR and the legal departments should be involved in making this document come to life, too.
8 ) What to say, what to say. The language you use should be clear, as this is a guide for staff and perhaps, the public. For a few examples on strong and clear language in a social media plan, check out this post from Nonprofit Tech 2.0’s blog.
9) Enjoy this cartoon/graphic by Rob Cottingham depicting the process of creating a social media plan.
10) Look at examples of social media policies (213 organizations listed here). Read social media plans that are inclusive of all social platforms. Read plans and guidelines that are specific to blogging or Pinterest. Browse plans of organizations of a similar size and much larger size, of a similar audience and larger audience, and of a similar or completely different mission. While copying and pasting their plan into your own template serves no one, referencing a model will make you aware of things you hadn’t considered, including policies you agree/disagree with and procedures you admire.
Let employees know what is expected of them regarding social media usage. Let the public know what the organization's expectations are for the social media pages themselves and for participation. Keep everyone in the loop, out of trouble, and participating-- with a social media plan.
Tumblr is one of those platforms I love to talk about - and this mini-nar is for those who love it too. I've got cool tricks and tips, but this mini-nar moves are a pretty good clip. If you haven't seen our other posts on Tumblr, maybe check those out before you watch this. We discussed the arts communities possible shift towards Tumblr, some of the recent updates, and last week - in the second part of this series - we had a mini-nar on the basics of creating a Tumblr. If you feel you've got all that down, here's a lesson in really engaging a Tumblr audience. http://youtu.be/HAqAO0VgukA
Newsweek and Anderson both have great Tumblrs, and I was excited to feature them this week. Call Me A Heinzer is a hilarious Tumblr (and personal fave, as Tech in the Arts is an initiative from the Master of Arts Management program of Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College).
If you or your arts organization have a Tumblr, please let us know! Write a comment! I'd love to see what you're doing!
Now that Facebook is going public (reluctantly, due to a Federal Trade Commission rule) and is releasing financial statements we actually know how much money Facebook is making off of us: about $1.21 a quarter according to Techcrunch. This amounts to around $4.84 a year per user average. This figure is of course only part of Facebook's income portfolio as it makes money off of advertising, investments, and licensing. At times like these it is important to remember that Facebook is not ours, it is run for the profit of the shareholders. The dozen or so iterations of Facebook that have been implemented over the last eight years have all had modifications that were put in place to maximize data mining and advertising sales.
A worthwhile re-read at a time like this was done by a former blogger for this site. Here are links to Amelia Northrup's social media analytic series:
http://www.technologyinthearts.org/2011/05/the-art-of-social-media-analytics-part-1/
http://www.technologyinthearts.org/2011/06/the-art-of-social-media-part-2/
http://www.technologyinthearts.org/2011/06/the-art-of-social-media-analytics-part-3/
