For this project I decided to look at two museums that focus on similar materials and see how they handled their social media, if they took similar approaches or were vastly different. The two museums I looked at was the Fashion and Textile Museum in London and the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
According to their website the Fashion and Textile Museum describes themselves as:
…a cutting edge centre for contemporary fashion, textiles and jewellery in London. Founded by iconic British designer Zandra Rhodes, the centre showcases a programme of changing exhibitions exploring elements of fashion, textile and jewellery as well as the Academy which runs courses for creative students and businesses. Situated in the heart of fashionable Bermondsey Village, in a fantastic building designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, the FTM aims not just to display and collect items relating to fashion, jewellery and textile design, but to offer inspiration to a new generation of creatives. Now redeveloped and operated by Newham College, the museum is a hub of learning, ideas and networking for the fashion and jewellery industry. The Museum does not have a permanent display, but offers an exciting program of focussed temporary exhibitions and displays throughout the year which allows the Museum to showcase a rich variety of contemporary fashion and textile items.
The museum uses the standard social media outlets. Below are the links as well as number of followers for each outlet.
Facebook-68,618, active since 2008
Twitter-20,250, 8,377 tweets
Instagram-18,600, 684 posts
Pinterest-4,500 followers, 1,600 pins
I was unable to locate any actual social media policy or mission statement on their site.
The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology describes themselves on their site as:
…accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is one of a select group of specialized fashion museums, including the Muse de la Mode, the Mode Museum, and the Museo de la Moda. For the 100,000 people who visit The Museum at FIT each year, we work to create exhibitions, programs, and publications that are both entertaining and educational. The mission of the Museum is to advance knowledge of fashion through exhibitions, programs and publications. Founded in 1969, the Museum was installed in the current building in 1974, and exhibitions began to be presented in 1975. Dr. Valerie Steele has been director of The Museum at FIT since 2003 and chief curator since 1997.
This museum uses many more social media outlets than the Fashion and Textile Museum.
Facebook-83,590, active since 2008
Flickr-182, 78 albums
Foursquare- 327 photos, 182 votes
Instagram- 7,770, 139 posts
Pinterest-15,200 followers, 5,100 pins
Tumblr- not very active
Twitter-16,001, 7,918 tweets
YouTube-742 subscribers
The Museum at FIT does have their social media policy posted on their site:
Blog/s
The Museum at FIT may provide blog/s for the exchange of ideas and information. By posting comments to an MFIT blog you agree to avoid abusive language and refrain from posting any content that infringes upon any third party's rights, including privacy, copyright, trademark, or patent. All comments are posted immediately upon receipt. We reserve the right to modify or delete comments we find to be inappropriate or offensive or not related to the topic. We will not correct spelling, grammar, or factual errors but we may comment on them. We hope you share your thoughts with us. Please note: We may discontinue our blogs at any time. We do not have the ability to remove comments upon your request. By submitting comments, you acknowledge that they will be posted immediately on the World Wide Web. You agree we have the right to quote from your comments in all media now known and hereinafter devised.
Social Network Sites
The Museum at FIT may maintain a presence on one or more social networking websites, such as Facebook. By posting comments to an MFIT social network website you agree to avoid abusive language and refrain from posting any content that infringes upon any third party's rights, including privacy, copyright, trademark, or patent. All comments are posted immediately upon receipt. We reserve the right to delete comments we find to be inappropriate or offensive or not related to the topic. We will not correct spelling, grammar, or factual errors but we may comment on them. We hope you share your thoughts with us. Please note: by submitting comments, you acknowledge that they will be posted immediately. You agree we have the right to quote from your comments in all media now known and hereinafter devised.
Terms and Conditions for MFITs Flickr uploads
Your photo submission must be of you or your work and no larger than 2MB (about 1000 pixels on the longest side). Do not use copyright-protected material unless given express permission from the copyright holder.
In going over both sites I would say that both have their strengths and weaknesses. The Fashion and Textile Museum although not having as many outlets is very cohesive in the material they put on each of their sites without being repetitive. They appear to be very active on all of the sites with regular postings almost everyday, even multiple times a day. In comparison to the Museum at FIT the Fashion and Textile Museum’s Instagram is far superior in having almost 6 times as many posts and twice as many followers. The Museum at FIT however would appear to be reaching more people. They have numerous outlets and are fairly active in updating them however with so many outlets some of the material they post is repetitive, using the same images and text on multiple sites. One thing that I found interesting with the Museum at FIT was on their homepage they have an actual social media page that pulls together all of their postings on their different outlets and also pulls pieces (such as articles from New York Times) where they are mentioned into one specific place. Overall both museums are utilizing social media effectively, they are reaching out to their patrons, spreading information, and enticing future visitors.
1. http://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/
2. http://www.ftmlondon.org
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