Live video is one of the biggest current trends in social media. The live streaming app Periscope launched in March last year, having already been snapped up by Twitter, and has since been used to make more than 200 million broadcasts.
Facebook has been heavily promoting its competitor product, Facebook Live, which launched in April. And YouTube is expected to launch a live-streaming service soon.
So it’s now easy for anyone with a smartphone or tablet to broadcast live video online on social networks, and for viewers to add comments and reactions, such as “likes”, as they watch.
Museums have been quick to experiment with these channels. The British Museum was among the first, broadcasting an after-hours tour of its Ancient Greek sculpture exhibition, fronted by the TV historian Dan Snow in May 2015, two months after Periscope launched.
Kate Carter, the museum’s senior marketing manager, says that Periscope allows a collaborative approach – the broadcaster can respond to comments from viewers and tailor the tour accordingly.
“It’s amazing to have people watching all over the world and interacting live to help shape the broadcast. I think that energy is quite exciting for the viewers,” Carter says.
Since that first broadcast the museum has streamed another tour led by Snow, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Waterloo, and eight broadcasts by curators, such as gallery tours and conversations about objects to build awareness of forthcoming exhibitions. A tour of the museum’s Egyptian sculpture gallery, featured in the Periscope app, attracted about 50,000 viewers.
Carter says that the simplicity of Periscope has also helped the museum act in an agile way, responding quickly to events. In April it broadcast a live stream about objects illustrating Yemen’s cultural heritage as part of a Unesco-led awareness project. “It meant we could be part of a very current debate,” says Carter.
Part of Periscope’s appeal is that it allows viewers a more exclusive experience than a standard museum visit would allow, she says. Abi Stacey, the marketing, communications and PR coordinator at the Jewish Museum London, agrees. Her museum has used Periscope to broadcast events, including talks by Holocaust survivors, that have drawn up to 1,000 viewers. But she believes that the channel works best for informal “behind the scenes” streams of “interesting stuff that people might not be able to see otherwise”.
“Periscope is a nice way to do that without having to make it super-polished,” Stacey says.
The app has made a big impact, but faces competition from other services that allow users to share content with the same sense of immediacy.
The Jewish Museum has cut back on its use of Periscope and has been experimenting with the new Stories feature on Instagram, which allows users to create slideshows using photos and video clips.
And the British Museum is now focusing on developing its use of Facebook Live, alongside Periscope. It has streamed two broadcasts using the service so far, and Carter thinks that over time it could become the more important channel. A broadcast from the museum’s Sutton Hoo galleries in July was viewed by 80,000 people and appeared in the news feeds of about three quarters of a million.
“Periscope has worked well, but we have a much bigger reach on Facebook,” says Carter.
A workshop on animal mummy rewrapping, using a replica falcon mummy, has been our most successful in terms of engagement with viewers. It was led by a curator who is a strong social media user. His friendly and accessible tone really helped to invite discussion.
We did several broadcasts over the evening – the first was watched by over 800 people. The audience was mainly in the UK, but there were also museums in America chipping in to the conversation. There were a few jokey and daft comments, but by and large it was well received, with some interesting questions.
We have experimented with live streaming in the past, but not in such an easily accessible way. We will definitely be doing it again, whether that’s on Periscope or other channels."
Stephen Devine is the digital communications officer at Manchester Museum
Jonathan Knott is a freelance writer
Facebook has been heavily promoting its competitor product, Facebook Live, which launched in April. And YouTube is expected to launch a live-streaming service soon.
So it’s now easy for anyone with a smartphone or tablet to broadcast live video online on social networks, and for viewers to add comments and reactions, such as “likes”, as they watch.
Museums have been quick to experiment with these channels. The British Museum was among the first, broadcasting an after-hours tour of its Ancient Greek sculpture exhibition, fronted by the TV historian Dan Snow in May 2015, two months after Periscope launched.
Kate Carter, the museum’s senior marketing manager, says that Periscope allows a collaborative approach – the broadcaster can respond to comments from viewers and tailor the tour accordingly.
“It’s amazing to have people watching all over the world and interacting live to help shape the broadcast. I think that energy is quite exciting for the viewers,” Carter says.
Since that first broadcast the museum has streamed another tour led by Snow, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Waterloo, and eight broadcasts by curators, such as gallery tours and conversations about objects to build awareness of forthcoming exhibitions. A tour of the museum’s Egyptian sculpture gallery, featured in the Periscope app, attracted about 50,000 viewers.
Carter says that the simplicity of Periscope has also helped the museum act in an agile way, responding quickly to events. In April it broadcast a live stream about objects illustrating Yemen’s cultural heritage as part of a Unesco-led awareness project. “It meant we could be part of a very current debate,” says Carter.
Part of Periscope’s appeal is that it allows viewers a more exclusive experience than a standard museum visit would allow, she says. Abi Stacey, the marketing, communications and PR coordinator at the Jewish Museum London, agrees. Her museum has used Periscope to broadcast events, including talks by Holocaust survivors, that have drawn up to 1,000 viewers. But she believes that the channel works best for informal “behind the scenes” streams of “interesting stuff that people might not be able to see otherwise”.
“Periscope is a nice way to do that without having to make it super-polished,” Stacey says.
The app has made a big impact, but faces competition from other services that allow users to share content with the same sense of immediacy.
The Jewish Museum has cut back on its use of Periscope and has been experimenting with the new Stories feature on Instagram, which allows users to create slideshows using photos and video clips.
And the British Museum is now focusing on developing its use of Facebook Live, alongside Periscope. It has streamed two broadcasts using the service so far, and Carter thinks that over time it could become the more important channel. A broadcast from the museum’s Sutton Hoo galleries in July was viewed by 80,000 people and appeared in the news feeds of about three quarters of a million.
“Periscope has worked well, but we have a much bigger reach on Facebook,” says Carter.
It's a wrap
"Manchester Museum has used Periscope to broadcast several events, including an exhibition launch and a lecture on climate change by Vivienne Westwood.A workshop on animal mummy rewrapping, using a replica falcon mummy, has been our most successful in terms of engagement with viewers. It was led by a curator who is a strong social media user. His friendly and accessible tone really helped to invite discussion.
We did several broadcasts over the evening – the first was watched by over 800 people. The audience was mainly in the UK, but there were also museums in America chipping in to the conversation. There were a few jokey and daft comments, but by and large it was well received, with some interesting questions.
We have experimented with live streaming in the past, but not in such an easily accessible way. We will definitely be doing it again, whether that’s on Periscope or other channels."
Stephen Devine is the digital communications officer at Manchester Museum
Jonathan Knott is a freelance writer