Twitter Skimming

I follow around 600 twitter accounts. Roughly 200 are individuals and 400 are museums. After focusing on the content of museum tweets, I started paying attention to the tweets from individuals, specifically noting which types grab my attention and which types I skim. My sad realization that many of my tweets are the type that I ignore has led me to try to consider my own content. Anyone can tweet anything they want--and that is half the fun--but I often find myself defending Twitter to people who say it's a bunch of babble, people complaining about their lives and writing about what they're eating. While I defend Twitter and explain that it can be about much more, my content often fits that stereotype.

I believe that a museum, institution or business should have a solid concept of potential content and continue to reevaluate that as they continue tweeting, but never considered that when using my personal account. With @museumtweets I try to keep my updates interesting, informative, to the point (museums, twitter, social media and etc.) and friendly but professional. With @eneriyma I have been somewhat more guarded than I might be on Facebook, but I still don't consider what might be a bit boring (I frequently update about food or the weather). Taking my "twitter philosophy" for museums into account (and trust me, there's a lot more there, I have strong opinions about Twitter content--and all social media "content") I'm now going to be more cognizant of my own Twitter content.

The following a list of tweet content I skim (-) and enjoy (+). This is not a judgement on which content should or shouldn't be tweeted, it's just a catalog of what I tend to skim and what I tend to take note of. Feel free to add your own examples in the comments.

-Status updates that are vague or generic. ie: "Just having my morning coffee." "Time to go to bed." "On my way to X"

+Status updates that are unique or funny.*

-Twit pic links without a caption.

+Twit pic link with a funny/intriguing caption.

-Location updates.

+Location updates if about a museum or something really cool WITH A LINK so I can go there too.

-Listening / watching / eating tweets

+Listening / watching / eating tweets if there is a link to listen / watch / see what they are eating.

-My kid/ dog/ best friend is so cute / funny / unique.

-People complaining about broken things, specifically electronics.

+People asking for specific help to fix something broken.

-Bad customer service venting

+Bad customer service venting with a purpose, or with humor.

+Recipe links.

-Blog feed (If I want a feed for your blog, I will put the RSS in my reader).

+Unique tagline written by you highlighting a blog entry that has just been posted, in an area of art, museums, tech, society, food, etc.

+Information! Even better with a link! Especially in the areas of museums, art, tech, society, news, food, fashion, books.

+Recommendations, especially for books, music, tech, applications, twitter, social media, museum exhibitions and restaurants.

+Requests for recommendations.

+Questions.

-#FollowFriday when it is a series of @usernames.

+#FollowFriday when each @username has a mini bio / why they are worth following.

+"Overheard" or funny observations about people around you. Especially with pictures.

-Tweets with mostly text speak or abbreviations.

+Updates or insights about museum projects or concepts.

*For example:

@schun Coffee on the back porch. To the left, Koko Head, Diamond Head to the right; the endless Pacific Ocean stretched out in front of me. Home.

@juliaxgulia I don't think I could possibly be more tired if I tried. All I want to do is disappear for a month and sleep, and read books.

If either tweet stopped after the first sentence, it would be generic. The second bit makes it more personal and interesting, I can imagine what they're experiencing. 

The Importance of Proof Reading

Well, let's start off 2009 living up to the blog's name and being a bit critical. Over Christmas I visited a major art museum with my mother to help her choose an artwork for a local art collaboration. I was snapping photos of labels to help her remember favorite pieces for later research and came across this gem:

Copy editing requires attention to detail. I've been involved in some aspect of labels in several institutions and it requires a certain talent, and mistakes happen. Happily, this mistake is merely sloppy sentence arrangement, not a factual or spelling error. Such errors can be especially harmful in museums, where the visitor often takes the information presented as absolute fact. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be the last person to approve copy to be printed, which is why I decided to forgo my childhood dream of a career as a copy editor.

Happy new year!

Originally posted on http://artbitches.wordpress.com

Obama and the Arts

This blog is not political, but with the recent US presidential election along with the economic downturn, I am interested in thinking about the ways the arts community may be affected. It will be particularly interesting to see Obama's arts and culture policy take shape and be put into practice. Many of the ideas outlined in the campaign policy would directly benefit artists, from better health care to an "Artists Corps" that sounds like a mix of AmeriCorps and the New Deal WPA artists programs. Better conditions and support for artists will hopefully carry over into other areas of the art world, so it will be exciting to see how policy develops.

Obama Campaign Arts Culture Fact Sheet

Obama's campaign truly championed volunteerism, something that is fundamental to museums and arts education. They also took advantage of the internet and social networking, and with the launch of http://www.change.gov/ it looks as if the focus on volunteerism and online connectivity will be carried into the new administration. Check out the site, I expect it to expand quickly. There are places for people's suggestions for several issues including the economy and health care, and mention of volunteer programs for people of all ages. To me this mix of volunteerism, focus on arts and culture, and structured programs for work suggests a new hybrid of FDR's (and Eleanor, can't forget her influence) and Kennedy's social projects. And as a total social networking geek anything that involves the internet and user involvement makes me giddy.

Okay, time for me to try to calm down. There are, shall we say, bigger fish to fry right now in the US, but it is good knowing that our next president has at least thought about artists and the arts community.

Originally posted at http://artbitches.wordpress.com

Generalizations

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs. Every day I'm inundated with my friends and "normal people" (read: not professional journalists)  offering their views on the upcoming election. And while I have my own opinions (and keep them to myself for the most part), I read or watch other people's insight into these issues. And sometimes, adjust my views accordingly. But though a few people are fair and even-handed, I'm finding far too many people who, in holding up their own beliefs or preferences, are too eager to negatively pigeon-hole people who are of an opposite political persuasion.

People are people. Some people have lots of money, some have very little. Some people have two PhDs. Others ended school at age 16. Some people go to church, some do not. These are facts. And taken separately, without judgement, it is easy to put people in such categories. It's when you start to pair facts with morals and judgement and lump them together that I begin to get very annoyed.

Traits like tolerance, patience, intelligence, racism, morals can be paired with different "factual" items. Someone may have quit school at 16 and still be very intelligent. People may not go to church and still have very strong morals. Without getting into the sociology of the particular personality traits and human situation (I acknowledge that someone who has two PhDs likely has more money than someone who quit school at 16), the point here is that likelihood is different than reality. 

Someone can be a Republican and still believe in freedom of choice and environmentalism. Someone can be a Democrat and be very religious and supportive of the military. Many people choose their political affiliation based on fiscal and judicial agendas. Just as many people choose political affiliation based on "hot button issues" such as abortion or environmental policy. Either path is fine. People may believe strongly in something and still not think it is an important political issue. Or they might.

I get upset when people make generalizations such as "All Republicans are moral fanatics who have no sense of relativism or tolerance for other belief systems." Some, maybe. All? Certainly not, that is statistically impossible given the nature of human diversity. Or, "Democrats are all Liberals with no morals and want people do be dependent on the government." Um, maybe a few are. Certainly many aren't. Even the majority who align themselves to either party.  If there were a list of things with which all people in either major party must align themselves, most people would be left out of both parties. 

Or, often from people from either persuasion, "People in xxx party are all stupid and lack the ability to reason." Difference in opinion does not constitute lack of reasoning skills. Most people have their reasons for their beliefs. Some do not. Some have silly reasons, or reasons that do not stand up to scrutiny. But this happens in cases of people from either party, and there are just as many people with sound reasoning. Too often people dismiss differing opinion to "stupidity."

So, let's take a deep breath. Stop making generalizations, and either agree to disagree or open yourself to other people's opinions and reasoning for those beliefs. Political affiliation is a mixed bag with too many separate factors to effectively pigeon hole even the majority. So let's leave that to the politicians and be the bigger people.

Originally posted on Wordpress.

Labels and Wit

L reminded me that Dario Robleto: Alloy of Love at the Frye Art Museum closes September 1st, so we stopped in this afternoon to catch it. There are several good reviews of the show so I won't attempt to write my own, but will instead offer a few thoughts.

First, the labels are essential to the exhibition. Not only do they show creativity and wit (Shredded records of melancholy female vocalists I can believe, but powdered bones and ink from the letters of war sweethearts? SURE) but a regular match box or drum stick nestled in a velvet-lined box have no special meaning without the narrative Robleto weaves with his labels. Of course Robleto is playing with the controversial role of labels in art museums, should a pieces stand on its own and do visitors spend more time reading the label than looking at the art? To a museologist this push and pull is delicious, witty, and almost mind-exploding.

Second, the list of materials makes it fun to try to guess which might be true (shredded records, flowers made of human hair) and which are positively impossible (a woman's powdered rib bone recast and carved into the form of a man's rib bone). It's a guessing game, it's a lesson in reading and logic and possibility as much as it is a story.

None of this is particularly insightful, but these are the reasons I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibition (in addition to L's excellent company and her decoding of the drum stick title "Your Moonlight Is In Danger Of Shining for No One" (it must be a play on Kieth Moon of the Who, she pointed out)).

Originally posted at http://artbitches.wordpress.com