The big social media success story of 2009 was Twitter, and as the number of people using the website has exploded so have the number of Museums using it to connect with new and existing audiences.
Country by county
This month my research has found 871 Museums using Twitter, and I would expect the real total to be over 1,000. The majority of these institutions are in the United States (542 museums), but there has been a lot of growth in Europe over the past few months with more Dutch, German and French Museums starting to tweet.
Below: Number of Museums on Twitter by county
Top Museums on Twitter
The number of people choosing to follow the 871 Museums which I have found on Twitter is a massive 1,104,834 and the most followed institution is currently Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid with 81,573 followers (this is up from 1,547 followers in November thanks to Twitter suggesting the Museum as ’someone to follow’ to users in Spain).
Below: The top ten Museums ranked by number of followers
This is the first time that I have been able to show that over 1 million people follow Museums on Twitter, and I feel that this is a great statistic to use when making the case for using Twitter in a Museum.
Number of followers
While the most followed Museums shown above each have over 10,000 followers it is worth noting that the majority of Museums on Twitter have less then 1,000 people following their tweets.
Below: Museums on Twitter by number of followers
It is disappointing that several of the Institutions falling in to the 100 – 249 follower category have not progressed past this. While I believe that the depth of relationship that Twitter allows a Museum to have with it’s audiences is more important then the number of people who follow it, a Museum must attract enough followers to justify the time that they are spending updating Twitter (these institutions may benefit from reading this piece on improving Museum tweets).
You can download an excel spreadsheet of all 871 Museums on Twitter, complete with the number of people following them here.
As always this research is a work in progress, if you know of any Museums which are not on my list, please leave a comment on this post.
Here are a few you have missed:
@delartmuseum
@McNayArt
@WAMinWichita
@ChelseArtMuseum
@FrostArtMuseum
@WorcesterArt
@HarnMuseumofArt
@OUMuseum
@msmuseumart
@MuseumofNeonArt
@MOAUNH
@BrauerArtMuseum
@HolterMuseum
@AMoAMuseumofArt
@BSUMuseum
@tylerartmuseum
@BYUMOA
@TimkenArtMuseum
@m_m_o_m_a
Thanks Sara, lots of museums to add to next months research, we may even hit 1000!
In Austria you have missed our museum
@JewishMuseumAT
best regards johannes
For the Smithsonian, it seems like you just counted the @Smithsonian account and not all of the individual museum/research units that make up the organization as well (@amhistory, @nmnh, @airandspace, @hirshorn, @americanart @nationalzoo, etc.). There are probably many duplicate followers, but it’s an important note to make that the Smithsonian isn’t just one museum (as the others on your list are)
Thanks Johannes for the additional museum and thanks Sarah for pointing me in the right direction with regard to the many faces of the Smithsonian.
I will ensure that all are added for the next survey at the start of February.
Dear Jim,
I’m writing on behalf of Al Riwaq Art Space, a non-profit organization based in Bahrain that supports contemporary art practice and encourages the youth’s creativity.
It would be great to be in your list, you can find us on: http://twitter.com/alriwaq
Thanks and cheers,
Saba Napoletano
Hi Saba
Thanks, you’ll be the first museum or gallery on the list from Bahrain. Do you know of any others?
Jim
Hello Jim,
Thanks for the interesting research. I’m compiling a Twitter list of science centres and science museums in Europe – I think you may be able to use it to add to your data.
http://twitter.com/#/list/Ecsite/euro-science-ctrs-museums
All the best,
Michael
Hi Michael
Thanks, straight away I can see I am missing these Science Centres:
@DialogueSE
@InnovatumSC
@scienceatlife
@PlaneteNAUSICAA
@ScienceGallery
@INTECH_science
I’ll check the rest of the list later!
Thanks!
Jim
looks like you missed us: @realartways
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by LAUniqueTravel: #travel #LA @GettyMuseum is 5th among world’s top 10 museums by number of Twitter followers – http://bit.ly/7k0uWj…
Hello,
I found your post very interesting, since nowadays I’m finding myself quite interested in the presence of museums in social networks.
As I come from Spain, I can assure you there are more than 7 museums on twitter
Here are some more:
@elMNAC (national art museum in Barcelona)
@lacapsa (art centre near Barcelona)
@musevidarural (rural life museum)
@xarxamuseusapia (network of museums in the Pyrenees)
@museooteiza (Jorge Oteiza’s museum)
@artiumvitoria (contemporary art museum in the Basque country)
Best regards,
Esther
Thanks Abby & Esther
With all the help that people are giving me, I ma sure the list will top 1000 museums and galleries next month.
Jim
Hi,
it’ll be nice, to see our museum in the next research, we just started to tweet an we’d like to catch up soon.
Thanks
Balint from Hungary, Ludwig Museum- Museum of Contemporary Art
Science World (Vancouver, BC)
@scienceworldca
@scienceworldtr
You missed Costa Rica’s @MuseosBCCR
Sorry to bombard you with another comment and museum, but Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio is also on Twitter. @GLScienceCtr. We joined on Jan. 1.
Thanks!
Jeff
Try my list:
http://twitter.com/cjn212/museums
And, possibly better, @museumnerd’s list:
http://twitter.com/museumnerd/museums
[...] the opportunity that Conversationists offer them, by becoming part of the conversation themselves. Hundreds of Museums are on Twitter already, if your thinking of joining them then this step by step guide to getting started on Twitter is a [...]
You missed us here in California:
@MissionSJC
Thanks!
Sabrina
@permgallery
Perm State Art Gallery
Here,more one museum @muhm (Brazil, Porto Alegre)
Here, more one museum @muhmrs (Porto Alegre, Brazil)
[...] begint het Twitteren ook in te burgeren bij musea en culturele instellingen. Jim Richardson, op Museummarketing.co.uk besteedt hier regelmatig aandacht aan en houdt ook een database bij van musea wereldwijd die op [...]
Your research is fantastic. I am a graduate student and I am working on my final article for graduation. I am doing it on social networking sites as they relate to museum marketing. would it be possible to get the most updated version of this list for my research? Also have you done any research into Facebook, Flickr, Youtube or LinkedIn? Thank-you!!
Hi Tiffany,
This is the most up to date information, though you might want to check out http://www.followamuseum.org
I’ve written ‘how to’ guides to Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, but not done any research in to how many museums use each.
Jim
Fantastic list!
I found this
@museocarlozauli
Museo Carlo Zauli
Faenza (RA) Italy
i have one more museum you can add.
the Mississippi 4-H Learning Center and Museum
@MS4HLCM
[...] in the “Art-Design” category. Jim Richardson’s roundup of museum followings on Twitter for Museum Marketing of January 2, 2010, was his last count before a big explosion in the [...]