Heritage: It’s about context–the people, places and things that define you. From the grassroots standpoint, it’s about developing the openness to expand your personal view of what heritage is and to advocate for those resources that may not have a direct bearing on your own experience.
Social media is giving birth to the next evolution of heritage. Think about how heritage fields have developed up to this point. They’ve become increasingly specialized and discrete within their own niches. In some ways, this refines the science of those occupations, but that comes with a cost. For example archaeology is not a pure science that exists in a bubble. There is context to be considered in any excavation, and one has to go beyond careful digging to fully understand the site and be able to communicate it not just to other archaeologists, but to the public.
This is an area the heritage field is having the toughest time absorbing. To this point, the world has been all about studying, categorizing and putting interpreted concepts on display as authoritative truth. In some ways, it mirrors the role the news media has played for more than a century. As the public becomes more aware through the social web, there is less belief in the authoritative truth of anything.
In a sense, it was always that way. We bring our own experience and beliefs to any situation. We see it through that lens. Today, that view is just being validated to a greater extent. We all can talk about what we’re seeing and put our own spin out there. Taken in the right spirit, this can really benefit heritage professionals, because they better understand where their constituents are coming from and engage them in a thoughtful conversation on the topic. It’s also very possible that they will learn something they didn’t know.
So, one of the great things about social media is that it empowers people–gives them a safer platform from which to voice their opinions. I’ve found this to be true in my own life as well. Though I’ve made my career in public relations, I’m not the type to self promote or put myself in front of others.
When I first began delving into the possibilities of social media in 2006, I never would have dreamed that I would be designing websites and blogging, much less hosting podcasts, video newscasts or teaching in a university setting.
I engaged in small ways initially, commenting on the blogs of others. One of those comments was part of a blogging competition held by a web designer in South Africa regarding a direction for his next design designs. Folks argued back and forth in his comments section. The prize was a ticket to the Future of Web Design conference in London. As the only person in the thread who wasn’t a web designer, I was shocked to win. I had never been out of the U.S. to that point!
We all curate our own reputations online these days. Ultimately, the real gem of this situation is that we’re understanding each other better. So, whether you’re in South Africa, Louisiana, or China, we can all communicate easily, for free. And the ability to be so open in communication, opens minds as well.
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