The Purpose of Apps and Social Media

Katy // October 12, 2010 // Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media // 1 Comment

Recently the New York Times published a piece on current smart phone apps for museums. It wasn’t exactly a glowing review and it got me thinking: are our expectations for social media and apps making us miss the point?

For the apps described in this article (though I’ve never personally used them), I don’t believe the institutions were aiming to recreate an experience, rather to add another layer to enhance it. Brooklyn Museum Mobile and AMNH Explorer (American Museum of Natural History) are two apps cited in the article. The editor described feeling “used along the way, forced into rigid paths, looking at minimalist text bites, glimpsing possibilities while being thwarted by realities.” While this editor was lucky enough to get mobile service throughout his tour, I do believe he’s missing a major point. These apps share background information on art critics’ top picks and offer visitors a suggested tour based on what staff may have found useful. Additionally, it enables out-of-towners to experience the institution virtually if they’re unable to afford a flight or are running short on time.

In watching my Twitter and Facebook streams throughout the day, I wonder how many of us are living in a permanent digital state, myself included. Before we visit a restaurant, we’ve read Yelp! reviews, before visiting a country, we’ve taken virtual tours and before we purchase a product, we’ve most likely done our research on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites. But one thing I always try to remember is the reason I fell in love with social media and tech like my iPhone is that it’s added another layer – I can share information with my friends, upload photos of something that strikes me as beautiful and put my experience alongside everyone else to continue a conversation. It’s word-of-mouth gone rampant.

There’s no app in the world that can tell you how you’ll feel personally experiencing a work of art and there’s no Facebook fan page that will be able to recreate sensations of savoring a bite at a local cafe. I think users of these apps need to keep in mind that social media and technology have opened doors, but the door we happen to walk through is still up to us. And for marketers, the fun challenge of creating these apps and social accounts is to find a way to make it more useful – to add that extra layer that will keep refreshing the experience users have when they check in to our venues, buy our products and review our institutions.

What apps and social pages do you think are underrated?