Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 1, 2009

I know this sounds strange coming from someone writing an admittedly self-expressive blog post, but hear me out. When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences.

Participatory 50

Participatory Experiment Museum Teen 50

Museum 2.0

MARCH 16, 2009

I know this sounds strange coming from someone writing an admittedly self-expressive blog post, but hear me out. When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences.

Participatory 44

Participatory Experiment Museum Teen 44

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 14, 2009

This may sound obvious and natural, but it’s easy to underestimate the power of institutional culture. I worked on one project in which the client institution thought they wanted unfettered teen expression. In the end, this generated a substandard product for the client, and disappointment for the teens.

Project 22

Project Museum Teen North Carolina 22

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 7, 2008

When I watch the videos teens created at the Exploratorium and post on YouTube, I see the aspects of the exhibits they thought were most important to share with their classmates. You don’t need an internal social network (though that is an option). Without good listening, these all sound like risks. You need a listening machine.

Museum 20

Museum Teen Second Life Discussion 20

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 18, 2008

People who engage deeply in any online community, whether a bulletin board or social networking site, want to meet in person. To some people, these events may sound like losers. Use online search tools like Technorati, Google blog search, and searches on individual networking sites to quantify the output of these events.

Museum 22

Museum Hosting Model Community 22