Research Interests
For thirty years, the museum sector has been predominantly working online within spaces they construct and control, reluctant to venture out of their comfort zones. This research acknowledges how museums with diverse curatorial narratives have engaged with and confronted online expert communities where people who are knowledgeable about specific topics come together to discuss their interests and even discuss these very institutions. Through a series of ‘episodes’, it becomes evident that some institutions recognize, acknowledge, and participate in these communities but of these, only a few are confident in their interactions and this confidence can wane depending on a variety of circumstances.
The thesis progresses museum practice online by examining complexities seen across platforms and detected within communities. The research evidences how: identities presented by the museum affect how online communities react and respond; platforms influence the type of person attracted to the conversation and resulting discourse; and conversations are either exchanges of information or negotiations of control in which participants attempt to control the parameters of the conversation.
The thesis demonstrates that the sector needs a new awareness and literacy when interacting with such communities. It will provide a framework for how museums can assess these engagements going forward and establish a vocabulary to explain these interactions. Ultimately, it concludes that perceiving these individuals as fans of a subject matter (as opposed to ‘audiences’) is a more pertinent way to describe community members and enables museums to reevaluate how they perceive both the notion of community and the wider online world.
Blaire Moskowitz 