Museums participate vigorously in the social media ecosystem, although they still represent only a small part of it, in terms of number of followers. User engagement and participation in museum social media is also an open issue, as most museum accounts are determined by low interactivity and passive behaviors among their followers. This presentation suggests a different approach to understanding how social media users experience museum accounts, beyond the metrics and analytics offered by the platforms. Based on findings from an empirical study conducted for my PhD, I promote a user perspective in assessing success on museum social media. Employing a distinct research design, consisting of surveys and online interviews, I succeeded in voicing the views of both current and potential museum followers. I managed to include those museum followers who do not engage in visible interactions on social media but are part of the museum network. I also addressed those users who do not follow museums but have an interest in arts and culture. Furthermore, the study was complemented by online observations of social media data, resulting in a novel approach in the analysis of users’ comments where the construct of affect reveals how commenters relate affectively to museum posts.

Findings from the conducted study, although indicative, could stimulate museum practitioners to address museum followers and enable more connections between what museums offer (or not) on social media, and what social media users want to see on museum accounts. This presentation argues for changing the assumptions and expectations about what success looks like, as well as the tools and metrics traditionally used in measuring the impact of museum accounts on social platforms. The proposed methods focusing on users’ experiences aspire to suggest an alternative approach to assess success on museum social media by identifying users’ perceptions, feelings, actions and preferences on museum social media.