Digital

The Young Cultural Journeys Report 2018 (commissioned by Arts Connect) by consultant Morris Hargreaves McIntyre and We are Frilly makes 16 recommendations for the sector, based on research into the place and meaning of arts and culture for 11- to 18-year-olds in the West Midlands.

These include a call to “utilise YouTube as a core content provider for high-quality cultural content”. It was the most referenced platform in the qualitative elements of the research, and third behind Snapchat and Instagram in the quantitative.

As Snapchat is a peer-to-peer messaging platform, using it might not be the best idea for museums due to the short lifespan of the content. Instagram can bridge the gap between quick and friendly follower engagement but is less accessed by those in disadvantaged areas.

YouTube is universal: it was the most popular platform for 58% of 10- to 11-year-olds.

What does this mean for museums? Some organisations are populating their own YouTube channels but suffer from low engagement and views. We ask museums to think about whether their content is relevant and engaging to young people? Who creates and curates it? Who is it for? And how do you measure success and relevance?

You can’t address these issues without the voice of young people in your organisations. Creating opportunities for them to take the lead may feel risky, but it will yield rewards.