The first social media platforms were designed for individuals to communicate with other individuals, before businesses and organizations got involved. Now that every platform contains millions of competing voices, ranging from our grandmothers to multi-national corporations, how do museums bridge the gap between representing themselves as exciting, diverse institutions and interacting with audiences on a personal level? How can we talk to people in useful ways without trying to shout louder than everyone else? The answer is by creating a unique and effective institutional voice. But is this voice meant to be friendly, irreverent, hilarious, inviting, educational—or all of this at once? Should we try to teach people or make friends? Can we do both? Short answer: yes! But then how do we navigate sharing high-level curatorial writing, marketing and promotional posts, community-oriented posts that engage our local audiences, and participating in cross-museum campaigns, while also factoring in administrative requests to “be funny” and “go viral”? Will trying to do all of this at once make us seem dangerously unhinged? Just as museums are (and must be) many things to many people, all different types of content are related, regardless of what voice is used, because all voices represent the institution. I will explore the concept of institutional voice as a multitude of related voices and examine if it’s possible (or desirable) to maintain consistency across platforms when multiple people manage social accounts. I’ll also explore the relationship between digital institutional voice and the voice represented in signage and curatorial labels. Much of our energy is spent trying to get people in the museums doors, but how does digital institutional voice carry over when they get there? Like a bad Tinder date, is there a danger of museums not living up to the promise of their online personas?
Photo-based interfaces [Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.] change the way we interact with each -- making our communication less verbal and more visual communication. But what does that mean for brands?
Photo-based interfaces [Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.] change the way we interact with each -- making our communication less verbal and more visual communication. But what does that mean for brands?
Seven Principles To Help You Reach Superhuman Performance on Social MediaMitch Jackson
Because of social media, the principles Dale Carnegie shared in his 1937 best-selling book, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” are more important today than ever. In my recent guest blog post at PureMatter.com, I shared these 7 principles that have worked very well for me. I think they'll work well for you too.
Here's the link to my guest blog post http://www.purematter.com/superhuman-social-media-performance/
September "Creativity" program, co-developed and delivered with Paul Nus, Andrea Nus and Jane Schlegel. Multiple focus views on Where does Creativity come from, why is it important and how can you have more of it?
New York Times bestseller and named Best Marketing Book of 2014 by the American Marketing Association
What makes things popular? Why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral?
If you said advertising, think again. People don’t listen to advertisements, they listen to their peers. But why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral?
Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He’s studied why New York Times articles make the paper’s own Most E-mailed List, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children. In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos.
Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you’ve wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread—for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you’re a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.
Learn about the groundbreaking work of Jewish artist Barbara Kruger with 2014 Twersky Award Finalist Rabbi Mike Rothbaum of Oakland, CA. Examine student work and participate in some of the activities from his award-winning lesson entitled “Selling Soap, Smashing Sexism, Seeing Ourselves.” Learn how to create your own original lesson plan for submission to JWA’s 2015 Twersky Award.
Mobile Survey Data - Quality and Validation - uSampMerlien Institute
Presented by Lisa Wilding-Brown, VP, Panel Operations, uSamp
& Robert Clancy, VP Insights and Strategy, uSamp
at Market Research in the Mobile World North America
17 - 18 July 2013, Minneapolis, USA
This event is proudly organised by Merlien Institute
Check out our upcoming events by visiting http://www.mrmw.net
Seven Principles To Help You Reach Superhuman Performance on Social MediaMitch Jackson
Because of social media, the principles Dale Carnegie shared in his 1937 best-selling book, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” are more important today than ever. In my recent guest blog post at PureMatter.com, I shared these 7 principles that have worked very well for me. I think they'll work well for you too.
Here's the link to my guest blog post http://www.purematter.com/superhuman-social-media-performance/
September "Creativity" program, co-developed and delivered with Paul Nus, Andrea Nus and Jane Schlegel. Multiple focus views on Where does Creativity come from, why is it important and how can you have more of it?
New York Times bestseller and named Best Marketing Book of 2014 by the American Marketing Association
What makes things popular? Why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral?
If you said advertising, think again. People don’t listen to advertisements, they listen to their peers. But why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral?
Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He’s studied why New York Times articles make the paper’s own Most E-mailed List, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children. In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos.
Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you’ve wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread—for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you’re a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.
Learn about the groundbreaking work of Jewish artist Barbara Kruger with 2014 Twersky Award Finalist Rabbi Mike Rothbaum of Oakland, CA. Examine student work and participate in some of the activities from his award-winning lesson entitled “Selling Soap, Smashing Sexism, Seeing Ourselves.” Learn how to create your own original lesson plan for submission to JWA’s 2015 Twersky Award.
Mobile Survey Data - Quality and Validation - uSampMerlien Institute
Presented by Lisa Wilding-Brown, VP, Panel Operations, uSamp
& Robert Clancy, VP Insights and Strategy, uSamp
at Market Research in the Mobile World North America
17 - 18 July 2013, Minneapolis, USA
This event is proudly organised by Merlien Institute
Check out our upcoming events by visiting http://www.mrmw.net
How CDW’s Employee Advocacy Program Created a Culture of EmpowermentSocialChorus
Employees who are engaged with their brand and passionate about it will spread that enthusiasm when they share about it online. According to Gallup, 50% of employees are already sharing about their company on social media, but without any guidelines or training. Innovative enterprise brands, like CDW, are embracing Employee Advocacy to empower their employees with the opportunity to build relationships at a massive scale
Digital Careers at a Crossroads: Next Steps, New PathsMax Evjen
Hi everyone! Welcome to the slides for Digital Careers at a Crossroads: Next Steps and New Paths. Elissa, Max, and Chad presented this talk at the Museum Computer Network’s 2016 conference in New Orleans. This was an exploratory session, meant to pose questions and problems, but we don’t have the answers just yet. Maybe you do, though, and if you do, feel free to reach out to us on Twitter.
Presentation on using the Discovery Bus to develop a new field of research, "Meta QSAR" the comparative study of QSAR modelling methodology. Given at UK QSAR Society meeting at Syngenta October 22nd 2009
Game Designer Portfolio: Why Every Game Designer Should Have One And How To ...NYFAGameDesign
If you want to stand out as a game designer, and land the job of your dreams, having a portfolio of your work can certainly go a long way.
Games are highly visual and a portfolio is a better way to display your experience.
Here are some reasons why every game designer should create a portfolio of their work and how to make your portfolio stand out from all the rest.
Employee Engagement Steps: Questions to guide your one-on-one employee engage...Sheila Margolis
To increase employee engagement, after conducting an employee engagement survey, meet one-on-one with each employee you manage. This is one of the first steps you can take to improve engagement. This presentation offers questions to guide your conversations with employees. The questions are organized around the six drivers of employee engagement.
Go to www.SheilaMargolis.com to learn more about employee engagement.
L’implantation d’un système de gestion documentaireDidier Labonte
Présentation à propos de l'implantation des systèmes de gestion documentaire.
Présentation donnée dans le cadre d'un 6@8 de l'AREDIQ, le 11 octobre 2013.
Automation is great. It has simplified our lives and enabled us to achieve so much more with the same finite resources. But at what cost? In this talk, learn how to balance the human with the machine and leverage automation without losing your authentic voice or following down the auto-pilot rabbit hole.
Presentation by Lauren Bell Isaacs, Social Media Specialist, on February 28, 2020 at the Research Triangle HubSpot User Group.
Playing the Game on a Different Court: A Discussion of Social Media for Local...Chrissanne Long
Sales professionals and business owners think Social Media has changed the way the game is played. The reality is, the game is exactly the same, it's just being played on a different court. Social Media is the new court. Those who have recognized this, and have established an authentic presence with social media are experiencing enormous business benefits. Nothing replaces fate-to-face time, but social media makes building relationships a much more efficient process.
Social Media for Nonprofits | National Philanthropy Day ConferenceWahine Media
What if you could incite the next ice bucket challenge?
What if you knew what to say and how to say it? What if you could share your essence... affordably? What if you could target your outreach to capture the attention of donors, partners, volunteers and attendees? What if you could talk to the world?
Learn about the lure of social media and why campaigns go viral; how to succeed by showing up; the power of the “social” relationship; what constitutes a perfect post; storytelling over pitch; content creators are your gold; creating cool captions and positive spin; the do’s and don’ts of asking for money on social; organic vs paid visibility; best social platforms and listening tools; and what metrics you should be watching, and how to find them.
What Marketers Can Learn From the GoldiBlox "Girls" Parodyjimbler
We all loved the goldiblox "Girls" parody. Here's a quick framework i used to explain to some marketers why i thought it was great. The goal of the presentation was to create a framework for understanding why this worked and what we as marketers can learn from it.
We all loved the goldiblox "Girls" parody. Here's a quick framework i used to explain to some marketers why i thought it was great. The goal of the presentation was to create a framework for understanding why this worked and what we as marketers can learn from it.
Danny Yau: Digital Marketing and Social MediaHugh Stephens
Presentation from Danny Yau (@yauami) at the 2013 Online Youth Participation and Engagement conference run by Dialogue Consulting in Melbourne, 10 May 2013.
A marketeers brief guide to improving your social media performanceSHumphrey123
The Black Hole's Content Marketing Executive, Sam Humphrey, looks at the simple steps that marketeers can take to improve their social media offering. With thanks to all speakers at the Big Social Conference 2015. Some of there content is used in this presentation. Thanks also to entrepreneur.com who came up with the 10 laws of social.
“To be integrated is to feel secure, to feel connected.” The views and experi...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT: Although a significant amount of literature exists on Morocco's migration policies and their
successes and failures since their implementation in 2014, there is limited research on the integration of subSaharan African children into schools. This paperis part of a Ph.D. research project that aims to fill this gap. It
reports the main findings of a study conducted with migrant children enrolled in two public schools in Rabat,
Morocco, exploring how integration is defined by the children themselves and identifying the obstacles that they
have encountered thus far. The following paper uses an inductive approach and primarily focuses on the
relationships of children with their teachers and peers as a key aspect of integration for students with a migration
background. The study has led to several crucial findings. It emphasizes the significance of speaking Colloquial
Moroccan Arabic (Darija) and being part of a community for effective integration. Moreover, it reveals that the
use of Modern Standard Arabic as the language of instruction in schools is a source of frustration for students,
indicating the need for language policy reform. The study underlines the importanceof considering the
children‟s agency when being integrated into mainstream public schools.
.
KEYWORDS: migration, education, integration, sub-Saharan African children, public school
Your Path to YouTube Stardom Starts HereSocioCosmos
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Improving Workplace Safety Performance in Malaysian SMEs: The Role of Safety ...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT: In the Malaysian context, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) experience a significant
burden of workplace accidents. A consensus among scholars attributes a substantial portion of these incidents to
human factors, particularly unsafe behaviors. This study, conducted in Malaysia's northern region, specifically
targeted Safety and Health/Human Resource professionals within the manufacturing sector of SMEs. We
gathered a robust dataset comprising 107 responses through a meticulously designed self-administered
questionnaire. Employing advanced partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) techniques
with SmartPLS 3.2.9, we rigorously analyzed the data to scrutinize the intricate relationship between safety
behavior and safety performance. The research findings unequivocally underscore the palpable and
consequential impact of safety behavior variables, namely safety compliance and safety participation, on
improving safety performance indicators such as accidents, injuries, and property damages. These results
strongly validate research hypotheses. Consequently, this study highlights the pivotal significance of cultivating
safety behavior among employees, particularly in resource-constrained SME settings, as an essential step toward
enhancing workplace safety performance.
KEYWORDS :Safety compliance, safety participation, safety performance, SME
Grow Your Reddit Community Fast.........SocioCosmos
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Enhance your social media strategy with the best digital marketing agency in Kolkata. This PPT covers 7 essential tips for effective social media marketing, offering practical advice and actionable insights to help you boost engagement, reach your target audience, and grow your online presence.
Unlock TikTok Success with Sociocosmos..SocioCosmos
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Surat Digital Marketing School is created to offer a complete course that is specifically designed as per the current industry trends. Years of experience has helped us identify and understand the graduate-employee skills gap in the industry. At our school, we keep up with the pace of the industry and impart a holistic education that encompasses all the latest concepts of the Digital world so that our graduates can effortlessly integrate into the assigned roles.
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Multilingual SEO services are essential for businesses aiming to expand their global presence. They involve optimizing a website for search engines in multiple languages, enhancing visibility, and reaching diverse audiences. Filose offers comprehensive multilingual SEO services designed to help businesses optimize their websites for search engines in various languages, enhancing their global reach and market presence. These services ensure that your content is not only translated but also culturally and contextually adapted to resonate with local audiences.
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9. Brands quickly figured out that if they want to be
effective on social media…
…they need to create the presence and energy of a
funny, popular, charming person.
wikipedia.org
10. Some brands adopt an
indulgent, comforting
tone.
Others want you to
know how cool they are.
They get it.
adsoftheworld.com
11. But brands are on social
media to sell you things.
Brands are not people.
They reinforce a consistent
image and generally use one voice.
If you spent time with a person like that,
you’d be bored to tears.
pixel.nymag.com
12. A museum has more than
one voice on social media...
…because people act differently in different
situations, and museums are made of people!
thereelnetwork.net; whorunsgov.com; washingtonpost.com; biography.com
16. An effective institutional voice
means we can post about this.
And then this.
And then this.
And then this, all
without seeming unhinged.
David Douglas Duncan
Brenda Bieger
Luke Copping
18. Above all, we’re selling experiences.
This one. And these.
Photos by Tom Loonan and Brenda Bieger
19. We’re talking to everyone
about everything we do.
• Institutional voice should be open and
inviting, not exclusionary.
• We can have conversations and answer
questions.
• Unlike brands, we CAN be personal.
Because we have personalities!
20. What can an effective
institutional voice accomplish?
• Make people want to share our content
– “Go viral!”
• Make people think we’re funny and cool
• Associate us with their personal brand
• Inspire people to donate money
• Make people want to visit the museum
21. The way museums present themselves
on social media is an invitation to
potential visitors (even if they don’t come).
serenataflowers.com
It’s like we’re asking them out.
22. So does the tone of our institutional
voice on social media need to match
our printed texts and labels?
SOCIAL MEDIA VOICE MUSEUM VOICE
griddaily.com
25. Also no. Institutional voice should focus solely on
enhancing the visitor’s experience, no matter where
that experience takes place.
The museum voice can and should differ from the
social voice because it’s in a different setting.
Social media followers and visitors want (and
possibly need) different things at different times.
Long Answer:
26. Tone Creep
What I call “Tone Creep” happens when a prevalent
voice or slang enters public discourse and is
adopted (with mixed results) by brands and
advertisers.
28. In some cases, Tone Creep can lead to a deliberate
lowering of the discourse that goes back to brands
attempting to win your trust: by being indulgent or
being cool.
You’ve worked hard to establish your voice, so stay
consistent.
29. Public Focal Points
• Don’t co-opt public sentiment for
your voice.
• Brands don’t have empathy—they’re
there to sell you things.
• Museums CAN be empathetic, as
long as they stay true to who they
are.
30. To Review
• Museums are made of people.
• People have different personalities.
• An effective institutional voice
represents a diverse institution with
many personalities and voices.
31. • Follow your institution’s social channels!
• Even if you don’t work on digital or social
media projects, start thinking about the voice
that represents the institution to you.
• Start conversations with digital/web/social
colleagues about how this voice impacts and
represents your work.
What YOU Can Do
I’ll give you a minute or two to think this over. To be clear, I am referring here to social platforms, not tone or content or any potentially weird subject matter that may arise. I’m going to be referring to institutional voice as it relates to social media throughout this presentation, though a presentation on institutional voice in object labels and texts would be equally worthy of exploration.
The first social media platforms were designed for individuals to communicate with other individuals, before businesses and organizations got involved. Person to person communication. It was slow, but it was authentic, and it was PRIVATE. No one was peeking over your shoulder or reading your personal messages. No one was mining your data for keywords. No one was yelling at you trying to get your attention, unless you have really needy friends or owed some money.
Then we got a bit more sophisticated. Facebook kept the person-to-person communication angle but added a public layer that let you see what other people were doing. You could argue that this was the birth, or maturation, of social media as we know it now, and also possibly the start of the culture of sharing (or over-sharing) we currently inhabit.
Now we’ve transitioned more fully to PUBLIC person-to-person communication. Each of these platforms have a direct messaging functionality, just like our old beloved AOL Instant Messenger, but they are predicated on the public sharing of photos and information. They’re truly social. Without that angle, they wouldn’t work…it’s not like you will see anyone using AOL Instant Messenger these days. So now we’ve started putting all this information out there for everyone else to see…what was bound to happen?
And now, yes, they’re here too. When I refer to brands, I’m talking about corporate entities, products, and marketing accounts. Brands have invaded what was once a purely personal, and a then purely social space, with blanket advertising messages and marketing disguised as communication. In some cases, they don’t even disguise it. In other cases, it’s hard to tell what is advertising and what is actual user-generated content. Some brands blur the lines intentionally so they fit in better with the posts and subject matter around them.
Brands want you to love them. They really do.
And they’ve figured out that social media is the key to everyone’s collective heart, stomach, mind, and body, often all at once. One of the most convincing arguments for being on social media, if you’re a brand, is to go where the people are. This is where they are. Just for the sake of examples, Facebook accounts for one in every 6 minutes spent online, and one in every five minutes on mobile. Here’s another: 68% of Instagram users engage with brands regularly (and I got these facts from Hootsuite, who has some skin in this game). https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-statistics-for-social-media-managers/
Essentially, brands are trying to represent themselves as people. People you know and love. People you’d want to be friends with. But as we all know, brands aren’t people. They’re made up of people trying to pull a fast one on you and get them you like you. Brands on social media are the digital version of door-to-door salespeople. They want you to think they’re like your friends and then…whoosh. It’s all an illusion.
Some brands treat you with “You’re worth it”, others play on your location or jokes that only you will get. Social media allows for both of these possibilities with easy sales discounts and promotions, or the ability to target certain locations. Through the appearance of exclusivity, in-jokes, flattery, and an informal tone, brands are telling you to “treat yo self.” Examples of these styles of advertising are everywhere…now more serious entities like banks, hotels, insurance agencies, and other more established luxury brands are picking up on this informal, indulgent tone, both in terms of their design and written communication.
It bears repeating. Brands are not people. They have one speed. Museums are dynamic! We have varied interests! We are cool!
Brands want you to forget that there are many people working to craft their messaging. They want their people to remain invisible so that the pitch is the only thing you see, and internalize. But people act differently in different situations, because people are people. Museums, on the other hand, are made up of many people!
I’m referring here specifically to the institutional voice we use on social media. Institutional voice is the way our institutions present themselves on social media through the tone, voice, and style of the posts that we create. Institutional voice is mediated in that posts are created and then published—there is, or should be, a period of review before things are posted, but it’s an authentic representation of both the institution and the people who work there.
Museums are many things: event venues, promoters, retailers, restauranteurs, publishers, educational resources, and more. We talk about all of the things we do. Since museums are made of people, we have conversations. We ask and answer questions. We engage with each other and with cultural themes and trends, things like #MuseumSelfie day or #AskACurator day. We play games. We make jokes.
Since we cover such a wide range of topics, an effective institutional voice is, almost by definition, multiple voices. Remember, we are made of different people. When more than one person manages social accounts, or when there are more than one social account for different parts of the museum, the voice can differ. It should remain similar enough to be recognizable, never deviating wildly or staying static. This is how we can be all of these things at once. We’re engaged with our followers and fans, we’re engaged with pop culture, we’re engaged with each other. This is how we can show it effectively. The only one on this list that gives me pause is “hilarious”—that’s tough to achieve. Given the proper context and some quick thinking, it can be possible.
Institutional voice is a multitude of related voices that represent the personality of the institution. It’s how we can share information about upcoming events and then talk about the history of an artwork without seeming unhinged. We can post about all of these things
The big question: What’s the point of being on social media? Should we operate like a brand? Why are we here in the first place?
The bottom line is that we want people to come to the museum. That is why we exist. Some of our registrars often say otherwise. We’re on social media to participate in conversations, to be accessible, and to engage with people where they are. While we’re doing that, we’re selling ourselves and the experience of being at the museum—not just the “great moment with art” experience, but all of the others as well.
And we’re talking to EVERYONE. We can have personal interactions as actual people! One of the things I hold dear to my heart that I learned at MCN is that “Social media is not a Band-Aid or a bullhorn.” We don’t want to shout loudly above the fray, but we want to make ourselves available and talk with enthusiasm and positive energy about all the things we are and do. We are selling experiences, yes, but we are public resources. We’re here for everyone.
Social media is a way for people to experience your institution even when they will never visit. I think of social content as an extension of the on-site experience, and as such, we want to present high-quality curatorial content as often as possible. If this goes viral, then hey great, though I think we all know the chances of that happening. But you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, right? So maybe one day. I’ve been taught by our Advancement department, the Albright-Knox is in the midst of our capital campaign, that everyone and everything is a fundraiser, so everything we put out is a possible way to generate donations. If people think we’re funny and cool, that is to say, if we ARE OURSELVES, they’ll want to associate us with their personal brand and possibly plan to attend some events or programs or donate. But the big question is: can social media content make people want to visit the museum?
Most of the time, the people who write the social content don’t write the curatorial content. Also, there can be more than one person posting the social content, so it’s important to try to standardize the voice as much as possible. Too much of a shift can give the impression of multiple personalities.
So if our social media institutional voice, as funny and cool as it may be, presents one version of the institution, does the on-site voice need to match?
No! For a few reasons, but I’ll get to those in a minute.
So if we’re using one voice in the digital space and another in the institution, and they don’t match, does this create a disconnect? Are we setting up a false promise that we won’t live up to in reality? Do people want the same tone they get in social posts when they get to the museum? Is that important?
Also no. All voices represent different aspects of the institution, and people do not generally experience these different aspects simultaneously. Institutional voice should focus solely on enhancing the visitor’s experience, no matter where that experience takes place.
So now that we’ve answered that all-important question, there are a few things to note. The first is Tone Creep. I invented it, you won’t find this term any other place (unless anyone wants to start a band) but it’s a relevant and timely thing to note. Brands talk about tailoring your voice to your audience and keeping relative consistency. This applies to museums, too—make a list of things you will and won’t do (I referred to it in my notes as “minimums” and “maximums”) and my personal example is that I will never use emoji smiley faces in museum posts. Ever. I saw it happen once and I lost it. Never again. But the message is, keep your voice YOU. Don’t try to be someone you are (or your institution is) not.
Tone Creep can change the level of discourse for your institution. Brands often try to lower themselves to the simplest, most direct pitch, and often this takes the form of being motherly or indulgent, or attempting to use slang in incorrect or forced ways. The Twitter account Brands Saying Bae is a great repository for some of these. This tweet sums up everything I’m saying: brads do not feel sadness or empathy. Museums are different—because we are made of people. We do feel genuine sadness and empathy, and we can connect with larger conversations on a meaningful and personal level.
By public focal points, I mean occasions on which public discourse is focused on one event, often via social media. This year, sadly, we’ve experienced the deaths of many beloved and iconic celebrities. We’ve had a lot of important issues in the headlines. We’re inundated by political rhetoric. Navigating this can be tricky, especially if the event has a political or moral dimension that is divisive or controversial. The rules should be the same as for brands, who don’t always follow them. It’s important to note that institutional voice might not represent the entirety of the staff at your institution when it comes to issues like these, but museums can and should participate in public discourse on current events, as long as they don’t co-opt public sentiment to promote themselves, and they don’t deviate from the boundaries of their natural institutional voice. Consistency is key, and anything that rings false is entirely more damaging than something said with authenticity.
To review: Museums are made of people. We are people, we make up museums. People have different personalities and a multitude of voices. An effective institutional voice represents a diverse institution with many personalities and voices. Institutional voice is the personality of the institution: it’s primarily a marketing tool, yes, but it’s also one of many things that defines the character of the museum. When people find your museum on social media, they’re going to remember if something makes an impression on them.
And everyone can help with this! The first step in helping to create an effective institutional voice is to follow your institution on social media! I’m always amazed at how many people don’t do this. Once you’ve got a sense of how your institution’s voice works, think about it, and then talk about it. Institutional voice is often created by aggregation, not planned in advance. A periodic assessment of where and how your voice is working, and where and how it could be improved, is vital. If you don’t work on web or social projects, remember that you still represent your institution, and its voice should represent you. You can start thinking and talking about this with the people who manage it. If you’re among the people who manage social channels at your institution, reach out to people who don’t and start these conversations. Arrange a lunch and learn or a focus group to see what works and what doesn’t. The better your institutional voice represents your people, the stronger it will be.