10 Things Museums Can Learn from BuzzFeed (Part II)

In case you missed my last post, we established that museums have a lot of catching up to do in order to reach a new generation of native digital users — people who openly consume culture and publications online, and are heavily invested in the economy of sharing. With sites like BuzzFeed changing the game through substantial investments in technology and content designed for the sole purpose of going viral, museums must ask themselves: Are we capitalizing on the potential of technology and accessible ideas in our physical and virtual spaces? How can we leverage this habit of untamed binge sharing, and inject it into our educational mission?

My list of 10 Things Museums Can Learn From BuzzFeed continues with these questions in mind:

6. Online Video

The Pew Research Center just released a study showing that the total number of American Internet users who download videos has grown from 69 percent in 2009 to 78 percent today. The percentage of users who upload or post videos has also doubled, from 14 percent to 31 percent. The message is clear: There is a growing generation of young video consumers who are watching TV not on their television sets but on YouTube, through torrents, or mobile phones. Media companies have been proactively responsive, most notably: BuzzFeed’s new 12,000-square-foot studio facility in Los Angeles solely dedicated to the production of new videos, in the hopes of growing its (already massive) 100 million YouTube views per month. The videos that live on the social web circulate in part because they are short, digestible, and share-worthy. Museums are just beginning to dedicate staff to video production, and should strive to create video that aligns with popular consumption patterns. YouTube is now the world’s second-largest search engine after Google, which means that SEO rules apply: The videos must not only exist, but also be easily findable.

7. Mobile

More than 50 percent of site traffic to BuzzFeed today comes from smartphones and tablets. By the end of 2013, an estimated 1.4 billion smartphones and 268 million tablets will be in use worldwide. As a result, museums will inevitably see higher and higher proportions of mobile website visitors, and, in some cases, first-time online encounters with a museum will occur on a mobile device. Investments in mobile websites and apps (not just for the iPhone) will help make the rich content generated by museums available to the widest possible audience. Success in mobile technology is also critical for museums aiming to penetrate regions of the world where the Internet and websites have less reach, such as Asia, Africa, and parts of Latin America.

8. Participation

I only recently learned that articles on BuzzFeed are not exclusively sourced from staff writers. A Community approach permits any user to submit content, and some of it has been incredibly successful. This open-source, open-minded perspective is at the heart of the social web and native to the type of content that is so widely shared on BuzzFeed. It is possible to see museum social media channels as participatory, and certain projects that allow users to “create your own . . .” do invite crowdsourcing, but museums still must reexamine their core platforms — their websites, physical gallery spaces, and education programs — as access points that invite participation. Contributions from the public have the potential to be as valuable as those of the staff. Ideally, the more participation a museum can generate, the more vital it will be for the people it serves.

9. Global Discourse

For almost every institution, large or small, “local versus global” is a critical debate. Should museums funnel their limited resources to drive foot traffic to the bricks-and-mortar building, or should they focus on the millions who will never have the opportunity to set foot in the museum and at least attract them online? I would argue that if you have any online presence at all, you absolutely cannot ignore it. The social web is global, as is the appreciation of art and culture. For BuzzFeed, the future is pointing toward a website that will dynamically change to meet the needs of people in different countries and allow them to interact in their native languages. Museums should aspire to this same goal: to bypass physical borders through digital spaces and engage individuals everywhere in meaningful discourse — discourse that happens at all levels, from the local to the global.

10. Partnerships

Can you remember the last time you saw a banner ad on BuzzFeed? Neither can I, because they don’t exist. Partnerships and sponsored posts on BuzzFeed have proven that advertising can be editorial and editorial can be advertising, and this symbiotic relationship equals cash. When a post is sponsored, they say, it “hitches a ride with the most viral content on the web,” meaning the messaging is seamlessly embedded within the editorial of the site. Long term, the partnership propels the possibility of sustainable revenue for the business and a vastly extended reach for the sponsor, powered by the fusion of creativity and technology.

This final learning may contravene cherished ideals of journalism, but the fact is that we must look for new models for arts funding. One idea is to source them from the tech start-ups working in our own backyard, like BuzzFeed here in New York. While it was great to see Adobe as the lead sponsor for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2012 exhibition After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age, the more important question is, what long-term opportunities can be fostered to ensure that museums don’t fall behind, and that the parallel universes of art and technology continue to intersect and collaboratively enable creative exchange?

I’ve listed my marching orders, but it will take combined efforts of museum workers — curators, educators, marketers, fundraisers, and, most importantly, directors — to make museums continue to matter in our rapidly changing world. Take my word: No one is immune to the BuzzFeed effect.

Originally published at the-exhibitionist.com on October 17, 2013.