Social Media: MASS MoCA and North Adams Public Library

MASS MoCA and North Adams Public Library are two cultural institutions located in North Adams, Massachusetts, at the base of the Berkshire Mountains. The small city is also home to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), among other localities that foster cultural growth and spirit in Western Massachusetts.

MASS MoCA:
Mission: Through innovative collaborations, MASS MoCA helps artists and their supporters create and show important new work, bringing to our visitors bold visual and performing art in all stages of production, creating a stimulating center of creativity and commerce that brings life and economic vibrancy to its region.
And if you will allow us to expand on that…
(Here, they further expand upon their mission discussing the differences between MASS MoCA and conventional museums, performance art residencies, providing high-quality media, jobs, advancement of the arts, and promoting a healthy community.)

Social Media:
Facebook: 39,902 people like this, most recent post 14hrs ago, posting since February 2008
Instagram: 31,000, 883 posts, posting since January 2012
Tumblr:  (?) followers, posting since October 2011
Twitter: 42,100 followers, 7,275 tweets, 1,826 photos and videos, joined May 2008
Pinterest: 1,400 followers, 21 boards, 343 pins (? joined)
Youtube: 945 subscribers, ~267 videos, 465,805 views, joined November 2007
Flickr:  307 followers, 29 photo albums, joined February 2008
Google+: 30,320 views, 20 posts, since January 2012

Evaluation:
MASS MoCA, a 19th-century factory complex converted to contemporary arts center and world class museum utilizes social media in an effective but unstructured manner. For this assignment, I reached out to the museum via e-mail asking if they follow a social media policy not visible on the website. I received an instant reply of, "Frankly, we just sort of wing it! MASS MoCA has a robust internship program. Apply sometime and come see for yourself how the sausage gets made." Clearly, this response answered my question--no they do not have a social media policy outside of the museum's privacy policy and it is evident that their interns are the ones "making the sausage."

MASS MoCA lives up to the current standards of social media presence for a museum by being present and active on several social media sites to promote artworks and enable patrons to share a collective experience. The museum is known for its contemporary visual and performance arts which is reflected in its digital assets online and through various applications. The homepage features scrolling visuals of current exhibitions and upcoming events that embed Youtube videos to their website. On their main page, #massmoca displays snapshots from users' posts to Instagram and Twitter that include the hashtag. It appears that the social media managers who actively upload these screenshots of users' posts include #massmoca, #MASSMoCA, #mamoca, and so on to reach to users who post with a variant of the hashtag. Since 2007, MASS MoCA has expanded its membership to several social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Flickr, and Google+ reaching a population of close to 40,000.

The museum is active with their social media presence through recent updates and cross-posting between social media sites to promote events, deals, and other announcements relative to the institution's mission. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter serve as their most utilized platforms enabling users to share and consume content while being able to interact via commentary. Their presence on Pinterest features a pin board dedicated to Weddings, which shares images of past wedding events for those interested in renting the space for a ceremony. MASS MoCA is a vibrant location for frequent music festivals and features advertisements through all social media platforms to encourage attendance. Artist residencies, partnerships with local breweries, and featured live art performances are made more accessible by utilizing social media to express interest to a vast audience.

"Pins" of wedding images at MASS MoCA.

Tweet promoting artist residency @MASS_MoCA.

The only policy that could be applicable to the future of a social media policy for MASS MoCA is included in the privacy policy regarding "Photography and Video:"
"Your presence at MASS MoCA acknowledges that you have been informed of the potential to be documented as part of a video or photo release, and that you grant permission for your likeness to be included in publication of any footage. Please note that MASS MoCA utilizes closed-circuit video cameras for gallery and site security."
This part of the privacy policy could prove useful when drafting a social media policy in regard to what type of content the museum allows patrons to share and post. Since MASS MoCA is notoriously a visual and performance arts space and museum, it is unlikely that they will place harsh restrictions on users' social media content as it would discourage users from initially posting content. This is most likely why they do not have a social media policy currently. 

In comparison with the museums that are currently at the top of the Museum Analytics ratings, MASS MoCA approaches the high tier of success with it current social media activity. Museums such as the Tate and the MoMa have policies in place regarding their social media content as well as support their social media through their own websites and servers. For example, the Tate has its own blog and video channel on its website rather than utilizing Youtube or other third-party sites. The MoMa offers a page dedicated to their multimedia content including interactive exhibitions and projects. These institutions also use third-party sites such as Facebook and Instagram but they have made it clear on their websites that information shared through these various services require the vendors to maintain patrons' security. If MASS MoCA were to eventually ingest all of their social media activity into their own site and add specific policies, they would join the museums at the top of the Museum Analytics ratings. For now, patrons can share content via third-party platforms and the interns can keep "making the sausage."

North Adams Public Library:
Mission: The mission of the North Adams Public Library is collect, provide, and conserve resources that educate, entertain, and inform our citizens with a special emphasis on literacy and local history.

Social Media:
Facebook: 1,075 people like this, most recent post April 8, 2016, joined March 2010
Trip Advivsor: #5 out of 10 things to do in North Adams (formerly #3)

Evaluation:
The North Adams Public Library (NAPL) currently has limited social media presence to benefit their services and mission, but could vastly improve. The NAPL website is hosted by WordPress and functions like a community blog space for the public library. The manager of web content or the website itself, a user identified as "mhackner," updates information on the website in blog format. A post includes the date, a folder that includes relative posts to a specific topic or group, the author of the post, and the post itself. The posts are updated semi-regularly, as opposed to a regular daily posting of library events. However, the website does offer easy functionality with a simple design, main information such as library hours and upcoming events presented on the front page, and helpful links to the library catalog, the user's account, resources, services, and museum passes.

Example of a post from NAPL website.

Beyond the website, NAPL only extends its social media to Facebook and Trip Advisor. Facebook is an excellent social networking tool as a large portion of the population uses Facebook to promote events, business deals, and share information. Many libraries today use Facebook as a tool for community announcements of upcoming events and reminders. NAPL's Facebook page has followers of over 1,000 people and consistently posts information. Yet, the posts are simple in syntax and share uploaded flyers and images in low resolution. NAPL does not have a Twitter account but there have been few mentions through other partnerships the library has participated in such as NPR's story time promotion. (yet, still no Twitter account) It is humorous that NAPL suggests Trip Advisor as a social media tool because they claim to be ranked #3 on their website when they are currently #5 out of 10 locations in North Adams, Massachusetts (MASS MoCA is rated #1). Trip Advisor does provide room for positive feedback and comments of users' experiences, however it may not be the best social media platform for a library to rely on as a form of their success rate.

NAPL's post and cover photo of a low-res "National Library Week" image.

NAPL Facebook post from February 9, 2016 including question: "Who says there's nothing (free) to do for the kids in North Adams?" followed by a word-doc made flyer with legible "Please Touch!" heading...

Many libraries, especially small local pubic libraries, could improve on their social media presence. It is evident that NAPL understands the audience they want to reach out to with information, however they have not yet grasped how to deliver that content in the context and medium of social media. NAPL does not have an Instagram, yet a user has posted an image of the library and tagged its geo-location. To the current manager of web content: this could be an opportunity to reach out to users of a platform interested in participating with the library's presence in the community!

In relation to other libraries with effective social media, though there are few, NAPL could vastly improve on how they promote content to their users and how they define and measure the success of their institution's ability to retain a relationship with the community. Social media is a useful tool to an institution in a small community, but the small community institution needs to enlarge its perspective in regards to the social media community. 


Summary:

These two institutions residing in North Adams, MA use social media in vastly different ways but strive to reach out to the same audience. NAPL should look at its neighboring institution, MASS MoCA, to obtain useful techniques and strategies regarding the various social media sites in which the community is presently operating. MASS MoCA should look to its higher museum institutions acquire a more structured approach to its social media presence. This assignment has made it evident that social media in the field of LAMs is still in experimental stages and can only improve with consistent feedback and analysis from users.