There was a time when I thought Twitter was worthless; something best left to those who follow celebrity gossip. However, after starting my own experimental Twitter page (@SCMuseumNews), I began to see it as a useful tool with many different uses. That led me to ponder ways Twitter could be used to enhance museum education programs. Here are some of the ideas I came up with.
1. Tweet about what goes on behind the scenes. Museum visitors are a curious bunch that wants to know more about the things they never see.
2. Conduct a scavenger hunt of historic sites in your area. Tweet clues daily for sites to visit and photograph. Award prizes to the first to complete.
3. Recreate a "news" report of an historical event one tweet at a time to describe the event as it unfolds. This could be fictionalized or could use authentic headlines and reports.
4. Showcase artifacts or archival materials by posting descriptions along with links to images of the objects.
5. Start a Teen Tweet Club. Tweet a question related to a new exhibit, a mystery object, or an interesting person once a week to stimulate conversation. Continue to drive the conversation with periodic tweets.
6. Curate an online oral history exhibit by inviting a group of people such as Viet Nam war vets to tweet about their experience.
7. Create and maintain a diary that captures the daily life of a person who would have lived or worked at your house or farm museum - or use excerpts from a real journal.
Follow this link www.twitter.com/SCMuseumNews to see my Twitter of museum events happening in South Carolina.
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