Vine can be used as a way to get your audience to share or a way to share what your audience is doing. My previous post sets the foundation for my ideas about getting your audience to share. I would only punctuate those ideas with some notes about content.
First, let’s meditate on the word share. There are some important prerequisites to creating a culture of sharing. Respect is easily the most important. Your audience will know when you are not actually interested in hearing what you have to say. Listening goes part in parcel with sharing. Be present with your audience. Listen to what they are saying, but also gauge their body language. Do they have an expression of knowledge when you mention Vine? Do they walk away from you?
When you are thinking about implement a program that encourages visitors to share about your collection, make sure it is something they would want to do. Remember, you are not your audience. And, your audience is not just one thing. Come up with projects and prompts that are broad enough to spark creativity on different levels. If you want to connect to your exhibition about a particularly arcane form of Korean ceramics, try to find a way to make it relevant to visitors. Say—how about asking people to guess what the vessels were used for. Acting silly can be universal. But, if you are asking them to be silly, be silly too. You will certainly surprise your visitors (who might underestimate your ability to play.)
Often you find your audience engaged in something so exciting that you want to keep it. Vine is a great way to document something special. It is a like a value-added snapshot. Unlike a full on video, you can just whip out your phone. You can remain unobtrusive. Or, if you decide to ask your audience to share something, talking into a phone is very low stress. They do it every day. They selfie. They talk to their friends while waiting in line. They make videos of their kids. Given the low stress, you can find yourself really getting the feel of an event. These documents have a palpable excitement that still photography cannot convey.
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My vines can be found here.
I have written a series of short posts about Vine. Enjoy:
Vine Video for Museums: Post 1
How can Museum Educators use Vine?
The Right Audience for Vine
Fostering Participation in Vines
Vine to Share the Museum Experience
Narrative in Vine
Looking at Art through Vine
Vine on Your Own
Vine Interface—An Orientation
Vine Basics
Vine and Audio
Stop Motion Tips
I produced these posts as notes in preparation for co-writing this paper for Museums and the Web 2014, with Alli Burness, @Alli_Burnie; Patty Edmonson, @Retrograde_D; and Chad Weinard, @caw_
Our presentation Vine feed is here.
Our workshop in April, 2014 sparked some good conversation, see the Storify.
Many of our participants made some wonderful Vines, check these out.