Baang + Burne Contemporary is presenting a panel discussion during Social Media Week NYC, “Beyond Broadcasting and into Community Building.” I’ve lined up a great list of interesting panelists and moderators including:
Alex Tryon , Co-Founde and CEO of Artsicle
Daria Brit Shapiro, Curator and Director of Public Relations for Scope
Ashley Gallman, Client Relations and Events Manager at Wix Lounge
Erica Berger, Senior Editor of New Band Daily and writer for The Economist
Stevie Belchak, Community Manager of SkillShare
Karen Michel (moderator) – NPR and Professor of Media at Marist College
And, of course, I will be on the panel as well. I hope we will be able gain some insights from each other, expand our brains a little via an enthusiastic debate, and maybe come closer to defining the “how” and the “why.”
In preparation, I sent the following list of questions and potential discussion topics that I’d been mulling over to Karen Michel and she replied with some thoughts of her own which I’ve included here:
Q1: “Community” and “Tribe” have become buzz words of late….why does it matter that we have a community? Does it have value? Do we need to redefine what community is, as Social Media has allowed us access to a greater audience?
KM: I think debating about the nature of community, and whether it’s possible to call social media “social” and consider it a creator or manifestation of “community” is not far off from the old trope of art v. craft. Distinctions and definitions can limit in their implicit embedding of what’s otherwise called clarification.
Q2: What would an engaged, meaningful community look like in the art world?
KM: Tribe. Really? Could that be a misappropriation of the term?
Q3: The Millennials are media and technology savvy, they are constantly sharing, discovering and digesting info and content online. The approach to engaging them is different than the approach in engaging an older demographic. Lets talk about different ways of approaching each segments.
KM: We are always, as social beasts, reframing and reforming communities. How is what is being done in the digital world different and what are the effects of those differences? (See #1) And does it matter? If so, how? The how matters more than if it does.
Q4: One stragety on social media is sharing content in the hope that the law of reciprocity will drive back the attention and traffic, (one hand washes the other mentality), does that change the “nature” of sharing? At what point does it become insincere?
KM: Insincere sharing. Cute and quaint. How is it possible to know when avatars are people and vice-versa?
Q5: The role of broadcasting (sharing content, curating content) vs producing content —- the different ways to create engagement in each role and the different depths of engagement.
KM: What do you mean by “broadcasting”? Without creating content there’s nothing to b’cast! But those who create may not have the skills to disseminate. Artists & techies; same as before, no?
Q6: Does Social Media makes you more social?
KM: If by more social virtual sociability is the same as in-person. For agoraphobics it’s probably a wild improvement. Last night I had drinks with a couple of friends. One talked about his longish term relationship…with someone he’s never met in person! And he talked about how it’s getting better and closer. Only after he went on for some time did it turn out they’d never met, and this is a guy in his early 30s and a woman in her 20s.
Q7: The role of the curator has changed with the advent of the internet, now everything is curated and everyone is a curator. How does that affect the arts?
KM: Curators with no skill set–or maybe totally different skill sets- can claim to be curators. How does one establish credibility? How is it that a digital image of a work of art is equated with that work? Reminds me of art history classes, watching endless images of work without regard to its actual size.
Q8: Does community involve collaboration and if so on what level?
KM: Community implies collaboration in the way that society does: an interdependent mechanism where parts work together to enable the whole. But doesn’t the internet allow for “community” to =1 person? If so, that’s #9.
9. Does the size of the community matter?
Q10: Since the internet caters to niche markets do you see the platforms converging or diverging as we move forward?
KM: Platforms will get easier to use; the tools will become available to the workers. Marxian if the workers control the means of production.
Q11: How to effectively engage Social Media as a Brand?
KM: Lots of webinars, seminars, books, etc. on this. Why rehash?
Interesting. Reading Karen’s replies to my questions makes me eager with anticipation for the event. I am looking forward to a lively conversation with lots of very smart, interesting, outside the box thinking, like-minded colleagues.
You can watch the event via livestream here: http://new.livestream.com/
Let the brain expansion begin!
If you have thoughts on any of the topic above, please drop me a line or comment below. I am interested and eager to hear from you.
