Instagram and The County Museums : A Study of the Swedish County Museums use of Instagram

This study examines the use of Instagram by the Swedish County Museums through the perspective of museum professionals in charge of the museums’ Instagram accounts. The purpose of the study is to find out how and why the Swedish County Museums use Instagram. The primary source material of this paper is a survey sent out to 23 County Museums in Sweden. 19 of these museums answered the survey, equaling a response rate of 83 percent. Through comparisons and content analysis, aspects of the county museums’ Instagram use are examined. Results of the study show that the county museums see many purposes with using Instagram, for example marketing, information and making the knowledge and collections of the museum accessible. Interaction and dialogue with visitors are also important uses for most of the museums, but the study shows that this might be secondary to marketing, informing, and making knowledge and collections accessible. Results of the study also show that the way in which the county museums operate in their work with Instagram differs between the museums, with some museums having only one employee working with the Instagram account while other museums have several employees working and collaborating with the museums Instagram account. When it comes to the employees being in charge of the museums Instagram account, the study shows that a majority of these have a work title that relates to communication. The study also shows that many of these employees have similar work and academic backgrounds in for example culture, art, media and communications. This is a two years master’s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies