Over the last week I have started to post pieces from a social media handbook on this blog to gain feedback and advice. The latest is all about tone of voice. Please leave comments below:
Whether you are planning to write a blog, use Twitter or create content for YouTube, tone of voice is one of the most important tools that you will have to communicate.
Rather then imposing some kind of official tone of voice for your organisation on everyone who communicates with the public on your behalf, we would instead encourage you to think about talking to the public online in the same way that you would in your physical venue by being courteous, friendly and informative.
Social media websites differ from network to network. On Twitter it is best practice to identify the individual speaking on behalf of the organisation, as shown on the MoMA Twitter account below:
This is also the case with Flickr, where a ‘group admin’ is responsible for managing the museums group. Note the friendly tone used by the National Maritime Museum group admin:
Whilst Facebook is very much a person to person network, the ‘author(s)’ for the museum on Facebook tends to be a little more hidden than on Flickr and Twitter.
It is possible to note who is speaking on behalf of the museum on a Facebook page and it would be best practice to present the museum in this way, reinforcing the impression that the museum is a collection of passionate individuals, rather than a faceless institution.
YouTube gives us different opportunities to present the museum. The key is not to think of this as a broadcast medium, but as a way to speak to audiences directly through their computer screens. Wherever possible films should include members of staff speaking directly to the camera, communicating not only information but also the passion that your team have for the museum and your collections.
Blogs offer another platform for speaking to your audiences and whilst these will often sit within your own website, they should be approached with the same tone of voice as other social media platforms.
Whilst the museums website can have an organisational writing style, a blog gives you the opportunity to do something different, to reflect the many voices of those working for the museum, and to let them talk about subjects which they know in a enthusiastic and honest voice.
By crediting each blog piece with an author, your audiences will increasingly see you as a collection of passionate individuals and be encouraged to comment on and engage with the blog.
Let me know if you think I have missed anything.
at museum de toulouse we personnalise a bit intereractions by signing “first name + fonction” such as “Malvina, modératrice muséum”, or “Samuel, web museum” on facebook page, flickr.
For FB groups with use “individual professionnal “museum” profiles such as : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=81965676098#!/profile.php?id=100000556414852&v=wall&ref=mf
on Twitter we describe who tweets what : http://www.twitter.com/museumtoulouse
Althought my name appears as the person behind the @casachihuahua Twitter profile, I have found that people don’t usually visit profile pages. Lots of friends who follow both my personal Twitter as well as the museum’s, seem very suprised when I tell them it is me who writes on behalf of @casachihuahua.
An extra tip (warning?): if you have a personal Twitter account, use different Twitter clients for the museum’s and that one. Is very embarrasing to post a pic of yourself having a drink with your friends from the museum’s account.
Posting the personalities behind the Social Media sites is one strategy – and not a bad one, but I would not presume that it is the only good strategy. At the Minnesota Historical Society it is been a strategy on our main Twitter account to speak in the third-person editorial “we” – casting the twitterer in the role of spokesperson. But similarly we avoid an imposing official tone, instead adopting a much more casual voice and tone.
On Facebook and Flickr it is more of an issue of privacy than matter of transparency since staff technically have to use their own account to access their company or organization’s group or page. This is a problem for the employee which may not want their summer vacation photos easily accessible through their work’s group page or have to “Friend” their boss in order to become an admin on the company Facebook page. These are issues with the user set up on Facebook and Flickr as well as some other social media venues and are not easily overcome without violating their terms of agreement.
First person or the promotion of staff personalities on blogs are another matter, we have actively encouraged staff to post under their names and not anonymously.
The one issue you have to contend with if your Facebook/Twitter/Blogs are focused on the celebrity of individual personalities – it can be disruptive if and when those individuals go away leaving taking with them your museum’s followers.
Lovely post. I agree that tone is a huge issue.
When I took over FB/Twitter for my museum, I was directed to only post/tweet listings directly from our site. Yeah – that was not attracting anyone. So I started posting updates in a fun yet semi-profesh tone – leaning more towards fun and far far away from authoritarian. That’s when our followers/fans started to grow rapidly!
I am not identified on these profiles and I would rather not be – maybe that’s just me. Perhaps if several staff became involved – I might put my identity out there.
Sorry if this is a bit off topic but I think the solution might be related: I am forever frustrated with Facebook’s Page vs admin account/profile issues. Our FB Page was set up in 2008 with a generic Museum email account. The admin profile is basically blank as it’s not used for anything. Here’s my issue: sometimes the Page ‘Likes’ or comments on Fan links/photos as the Page; sometimes the actions appear as the doings of a blank nobody Facebook profile. Should I just fill out the admin profile with generic Museum info for those occasions? I can’t seem to find any direction on Facebook. Their Help Center seems aware of this but doesn’t really offer any advice.
This issue most recently has come up as I’m trying to create FB groups for some of our programs. And of course, the Group Admin Creator shows up as that random blank profile!