Hello and welcome to the Digital Snapshot, bringing you all the latest digital news, inspiration, tips and guidance for the arts, culture, museums and heritage world.
In this issue we've got a smorgasbord of digital things, from cautionary tales about jumping on memes to ChatGPT going rogue (don't worry, we're not talking Skynet levels of rogue).
Also, is anyone watching Shōgun on Disney? I love the show, but there's a few scenes (particularly in episode two) which are giving "Democracy Manifest" guy vibes and I want to know if it was just me.
Latest news 📰
- You might have heard about the Glasgow Wonka experience. Putting aside the trauma of the actors and the awful experience for families - it's kind of funny. But, at its heart, it's a cautionary tale about using AI within the creative process. It's a great tool, sure. But AI needs to be used appropriately and responsibly within our work, with a level of digital literacy. Here's a great Thread diving into its misuse for the Wonka experience.
- Tate has hit 12.5 million social media followers across its various platforms - quite the achievement! Here's an insightful interview with their Senior social media manager, Nell Burnham, where she unpacks the approach to their platforms.
- Thinking about digital publishing, it's interesting to see that BuzzFeed is still going through layoffs and restructuring. It seems as though the heyday of digital publishing may be over (or at least the BuzzFeedification of it).
- The British Museum has faced backlash over taking part in the 'Roman Empire' meme. I've shared some thoughts on it with The Art Newspaper, so look out for that when it goes live.
Useful / shareable 🤓
- The Sensational Museum project has created a Style Guide and a Glossary to help you create accessible online copy - super useful for your content creation!
- The Royal Institution has just surpassed 100,000 Instagram followers. 85,000 of those joined in the last five months. Here's an interesting overview of how their Social Media Manager, Steven Franklin, has achieved it through a data led approach.
- The Digital Learning Network (DLNet) is an informal network of people who are interested in how digital technologies can help people working in the culture and heritage sectors better engage with audiences. It's a great group of people and it's well worth joining the network, particularly if your role involves digital learning / engagement.
- Charity Digital run a yearly digital skills survey and report, looking at the digital skills of people who work in UK-based charity, non-profit and social sector organisations. This year's survey is live and the findings are always really interesting, so do take part if you're eligible.
Distracting / entertaining / inspiring 💥
- If you've not checked out Georgina Brooke's Cultural Content newsletter, you really should. In a recent issue, Georgina has featured a guest post from Monterey Bay Aquarium covering their approach to platforms like Twitch, Discord, TikTok and Bluesky, since abandoning Twitter.
- This is an interesting look at Temu's approach to marketing - bludgeoning you into knowing its name.
- ChatGPT went rogue the other week, replying to a number of users in gibberish.
- Whilst we're talking about AI, in 2013 Laurie Anderson started working with the University of Adelaide’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning, to develop a language model built on her late husband's (Lou Reed, Velvet Underground) writings. Anderson has developed a number of works using this model which will feature in an upcoming exhibition I’ll Be Your Mirror.
- The Sacramento History Museum is creating good content on TikTok, featuring their star volunteer Howard. Their generally feel-good approach seems to be winning over audiences.
Something good 👍
- I'm always really interested to see examples of cultural organisations collaborating with different industries. This is an interesting example from GameSpot, a video game news / reviews site, collaborating with the Royal Armouries where their Keeper of Firearms & Artillery reacts to the realism of the guns in WW2 video game Hell Let Loose.
- In 2003, Chile's channel 13 aired the original Star Wars trilogy on TV and expertly cut in a number of commercials for Cerveza Cristal beer. They wove the commercials into actual scenes, making it seem as though they were part of the film. Apparently George Lucas wasn't very happy. Shock.
And that’s all for this edition.
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You can find all past editions of the Digital Snapshot here.
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