Digital Engagement

Abstract In conjunction with the Institute for Volunteering Research's November 2005 conference,“Volunteering Research: Frontiers and Horizons,” this research was undertaken to assess current common practices among organizations successfully involving international online volunteers; to explore the role online volunteering may play in building a more cohesive global community; and to assess the relationship between involving online volunteers and building organizational capacities.

There remains a significant gap in the scholarly literature on the investigation of specific strategies that individual arts organizations use regarding social media operation and management. Meanwhile, the examination of audiences’ anticipation toward artistic contents online is in its infancy. Addressing these questions appears to provide a potential for the UK’s art sector to find out about strategic implications for enhanced digital engagement. This study presents and critically analyzes the findings of mix-methods research conducted in the Southbank Centre and within the online population. Firstly, it investigates the social media usage of the organization with some comparative views with the Barbican Centre regarding their online presence. Secondly, this research measures the anticipation of the audiences toward online artistic contents before finding out relationships within these elements. It will argue that the Southbank Centre has employed effective strategies of social media operations, which largely aligned with the anticipation of digital audiences; It will argue that although the online presence of the Southbank Centre lags behind the Barbican Centre, there remains high potential for the former to achieve enhanced digital engagement; It will also argue that social media is a fast-changing industry in which both the popular platforms and the anticipation of the audience can change. The findings of this research are likely to help arts organizations, especially those who are currently facing pressure and challenges from social media, to maintain and expand their online community.

To restore trust in companies, business and capitalism many directors and boards need to build relationships with a wider range of stakeholders than shareholders and focus more upon the social impacts of corporate policies and activities and responsible and sustainable business development. Such a shift of emphasis can create new opportunities for collaboration with Governments, regulators and other bodies and interests to ensure that business activities benefit the many rather than just a few, and reduce the pressure for further intervention.

Published as: Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2016), Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Impact, Director Today, Vol II, Issue XII, December, pp 5-10

As museums worldwide were forced to close in 2020, the overall attendance of the world's 100 most-visited art museums dramatically dropped by 77% in 2020-from 230 million in 2019 to just 54 million. COVID-19 has acted as a huge crash test "on the role, structure and functioning of museums. It has increased the existing gaps and differences (…), has demonstrated that lacking skills and knowledge, lacking flexibility and agile structures as well as diverse sources of income can lead to museums having to decrease or abolish their main activities and tasks in service of society, or even facing the threat of permanent closure" (NEMO 2021). On the other hand, the pandemic shock forced museums to become aware of the importance of digital resources as a tool to keep alive their relationship with their audiences and to activate new relationships with new demand segments, which so far were unreachable. Based upon an online survey carried out in Italy among museumgoers during the...

Crowdsourcing (the harnessing of online activities and behaviour to complete large-scale computational tasks) has been recently adopted in the cultural and heritage sectors to improve the quality of, and widen access to, online collections. Within Digital Humanities there have been attempts to crowdsource more complex tasks traditionally assumed to be carried out by academic scholars, such as the accurate transcription of manuscript material. This chapter surveys the growth and uptake of crowdsourcing for culture and heritage, particularly within Digital Humanities. It asks how the use of technology to involve and engage a wider audience with tasks that have been the traditional purview of academics can broaden the scope and appreciation of humanistic enquiry, and how such public facing projects are contributing to the field of Digital Humanities.

This essay includes the following chapters: Firstly, it reviews the development and current usage of social media among arts organizations in the UK. Secondly, I will elaborate on drivers and barriers to the implementation of social media in the arts sectors. Thirdly, the multiple impacts of the implementation of social media will be analyzed. Fourthly, this essay will reveal implications for future improvements before moving on to the conclusion.

Web 2.0 technologies have enabled new methods of engagement, moving from static mono-directional sources of information to interactive user-led experiences. Use of Web 2.0 technologies for engagement is gaining momentum within the health sector however this is still in its infancy in biobanking research. This paper reports on findings from focus groups with biobank participants to gauge their views on a Web 2.0 dynamic consent interface. The findings from this study suggest that participants would welcome more interactive engagement with biobanks, and the opportunity to hear more about how their data and samples are being used in research. We propose that by adopting Web 2.0 tools for dynamic consent, we can move towards an 'Engagement 2.0' model whereby research participants have the opportunity for more interactive engagement with medical research, setting up a two-way communication channel between participants and researchers, for the benefit of both.

As museums worldwide were forced to close in 2020, the overall attendance of the world's 100 most-visited art museums dramatically dropped by 77% in 2020-from 230 million in 2019 to just 54 million. COVID-19 has acted as a huge crash test "on the role, structure and functioning of museums. It has increased the existing gaps and differences (…), has demonstrated that lacking skills and knowledge, lacking flexibility and agile structures as well as diverse sources of income can lead to museums having to decrease or abolish their main activities and tasks in service of society, or even facing the threat of permanent closure" (NEMO 2021). On the other hand, the pandemic shock forced museums to become aware of the importance of digital resources as a tool to keep alive their relationship with their audiences and to activate new relationships with new demand segments, which so far were unreachable. Based upon an online survey carried out in Italy among museumgoers during the lockdown, the article describes how the virtual visitors evaluate their experience of digital contents and discusses how the future scenarios-the New Normal-will be shaped by lessons learned and new, emerging audiences

espanolLa investigacion sobre los procesos de engagement, tambien denominado compromiso, involucracion o implicacion, se ha multiplicado en la ultima decada, convirtiendose en uno de los principales objetos de estudio sobre redes sociales, tanto en el ambito academico como empresarial. Su exito se ha extendido desde el originario campo de las relaciones laborales a otros como el marketing, la psicologia, la educacion, las campanas electorales o los medios de comunicacion. Una mayor implicacion conlleva beneficios acordes a cada ambito como una mayor difusion de los mensajes o un incremento de la productividad laboral. Para su medicion en plataformas digitales se ha propuesto tanto la consideracion por separado de variables como el numero de “Me gusta”, Compartir y Comentar, como la suma directa en diversas formulas. El alto numero de likes ha producido resultados sesgados de estas mediciones, por lo que se ha propuesto un prorrateo previo de los valores absolutos de cada una de esta...

The present paper challenges the dominance of the digital natives' agenda and turns its attention to the social context in which Internet usage among adolescents occurs. Findings indicate that even when young people are using the Internet with the same frequency, i.e. every day, the differences among them remain significant. Therefore, it can be argued that considering an entire cohort to be similar in terms of Internet use only due its age is a misconception. The way children make use of the Internet and the gratifications they gain after using it depend, as van Dijk (2005) showed, on the quality of access, on the level of skills, and on the personal (e.g. Experience, self-efficacy, confidence) and positional resources (e.g. Age, gender, socioeconomic status). Questioning the main determinants that lead to the most advanced way to make use of the Internet, the logistic analysis shows that, in order for a Romanian adolescent to turn into an experienced user once he or she embedded the Internet in his or her everyday life, is a matter of skills, experience, and time online, and is less a matter of socioeconomic background. However, we have to keep in mind the previous path analysis' findings, which emphasize that online experience, time spent online, self-efficacy, and digital skills are all determined, through direct or indirect effects, by demographic variables (i.e. age, gender and socioeconomic status), even when age is held constant (Fizesan [Balea], 2012).

As museums worldwide were forced to close in 2020, the overall attendance of the world's 100 most- visited art museums dramatically dropped by 77% in 2020—from 230 million in 2019 to just 54 million. COVID-19 has acted as a huge crash test "on the role, structure and functioning of museums. It has increased the existing gaps and differences has demonstrated that lacking skills and knowledge, lacking flexibility and agile structures as well as diverse sources of income can lead to museums having to decrease or abolish their main activities and tasks in service of society, or even facing the threat of permanent closure” (NEMO 2021). On the other hand, the pandemic shock forced museums to become aware of the importance of digital resources as a tool to keep alive their relationship with their audiences and to activate new relationships with new demand segments, which so far were unreachable. Based upon an online survey carried out in Italy among museumgoers during the lockdown...

Proverbs or better known as Peribahasa, in the Malay Language has been an integral component in learning and understanding the Malay culture. It is also part of the Malay Language curriculum to be imparted to our students during their primary, secondary education and even for their post-secondary education in junior colleges in preparation for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Normal, Ordinary, Advanced Level examinations in Singapore. With the advent of today’s information & communication technology, raises the concept of New Media literacy among our youths. One of the commonly New Media tools that the majority youths in the ASEAN region, especially Singapore, have adopting is Twitter (http://twitter.com). Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows users to tweet about any topics within the 140-character limit and follow others to receive their tweets. In this paper, the illustration of the twitter technology proposed by the technology librarian with national reference librarian (specialised in language development – Malay) are to explore, deploy and leverage on the capability to create a knowledge awareness and immersive model in propagating Malay Proverbs (Peribahasa) to the new generation within the Twitter sphere. This initiative is introduced to strategically spread them through the digital engagement among the new generation and at the same times expose the surface knowledge of peribahasa among the online community. Most language learners do not need even more passive input in form of texts, lectures or videos. This input is readily available in numerous forms on the Internet. Basically, they need is the opportunity to actively produce peribahasa language and the chance to use them as tool of communication. This addresses for instructional methods and tools promoting ‘active’ learning allowing to express themselves and interact in the target language and cultural. The paper will explores and discusses (i) on the technology - twitter, (ii) digital demo graph and cultural, (iii) the use of language (peribahasa), (vi) the framework and lastly (v) the benefit and return of investment.

Mobile communications enable reaching new audiences and improving responsiveness in a variety of engagement contexts such as marketing, fund raising and policy-making. While mobile engagement can transcend traditional boundaries, there is a lot more to learn about its effects. This article examines the impact in the context of a large trade union organisation in the UK. A survey with 176 union members explores their dispositions towards mobile technologies and potential for engagement. Members showed mixed interest about certain features of professional networking via mobile devices, while the perceived impact of mobile computing in their everyday lives was the only variable explaining these attitudes. Hence, for organisations such as trade unions there might be some good scope to approach mobile-savvy audiences as their added value is well articulated.

As museums worldwide were forced to close in 2020, the overall attendance of the world's 100 most- visited art museums dramatically dropped by 77% in 2020—from 230 million in 2019 to just 54 million. COVID-19 has acted as a huge crash test "on the role, structure and functioning of museums. It has increased the existing gaps and differences has demonstrated that lacking skills and knowledge, lacking flexibility and agile structures as well as diverse sources of income can lead to museums having to decrease or abolish their main activities and tasks in service of society, or even facing the threat of permanent closure” (NEMO 2021). On the other hand, the pandemic shock forced museums to become aware of the importance of digital resources as a tool to keep alive their relationship with their audiences and to activate new relationships with new demand segments, which so far were unreachable. Based upon an online survey carried out in Italy among museumgoers during the lockdown...

Resumen Framing y engagement son dos planteamientos teóricos frecuentes en Ciencias Sociales en general y en Comunicación en particular, sin embargo, la interrelación de ambos en el mundo digital está comenzado a indagarse. Por ello, esta investigación estudió la implicación de los usuarios con los marcos informativos empleados por los seis principales partidos políticos españoles (PSOE, PP, Podemos, IU, UPyD y Ciudadanos) en sus páginas de Facebook, utilizando el estudio del caso de las elecciones generales de 2015. Se analizaron todos los mensajes publicados durante dos semanas de campaña electoral por estos seis partidos y sus candidatos, midiéndose el engagement mediante las variables Me gusta, Compartir y Comentar. Se detectó que no siempre los marcos más empleados por las formaciones políticas son los que mayor número de interacciones reciben por parte de los usuarios de las redes sociales. Así, el marco estratégico, si bien poco utilizado por los políticos, cuarto de un total de seis, fue el segundo con mayor nivel del engagement. Por el contrario, el marco temático, tercero más frecuente, sólo fue el quinto en implicación de los seguidores. Además, las tres variables indicadoras de engagement variaron en diferente proporción ante cada marco analizado. Palabras clave: Marcos informativos, encuadres, compromiso, implicación, campaña electoral, redes sociales. Abstract Framing and engagement are two usual theoretical approaches in Social Sciences in general and in Communication in particular, however the interrelationship of both in the digital world has barely begun to be investigated. Therefore, this research studied the involvement of users with the news frames used by political parties in their Facebook pages, using the case study of the 2015 spanish general election. All the messages published during the two-week election campaign by the six main parties were analysed, measuring engagement through the variables I like, Share and Comment. It was detected that the frames most used by political fomations are not always the ones that receive the greatest number of interactioins fro user of social networks. In addition, the three variables that integrated the engagement index (Like, Share and Comment) vary in different proportions before each analyzed frame.

This paper springs out from a collaborative project jointly carried out by the FabLab Saperi&Co and the Museum of Near East, Egypt and Mediterranean of Sapienza University of Rome focused at producing replicas of ultra-thin archeological finds with a sub-millimetric precision. The main technological challenge of this project was to produce models through 3D optical scanning (photogrammetry) and to print faithful replicas with additive manufacturing. The objects chosen for the trial were five extremely fragile and ultra-thin nacreous shells retrieved in Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho by the Italian-Palestinian Expedition in spring 2017, temporarily on exhibit in the Museum. The experiment proved to be successful, and the scanning, modeling and printing of the shells also allowed some observations on their possible uses in research and museum activities.

In conjunction with the Institute for Volunteering Research’s November 2005 conference, “Volunteering Research: Frontiers and Horizons,” this research was undertaken to assess current common practices among organizations successfully involving international online volunteers; to explore the role online volunteering may play in building a more cohesive global community; and to assess the relationship between involving online volunteers and building organizational capacities. This paper offers a brief history and overview of online volunteering practice and details survey results regarding organizations that involved the Outstanding Online Volunteers of 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 at www.onlinevolunteer.org.

A compilation of research and evaluation reports regarding online volunteering / virtual volunteering, including studies on the various different activities that are a part of online volunteering such as online activism, online civic engagement, online mentoring, microvolunteering, or crowd-sourcing, etc. (these are not opinion or PR pieces - these provide hard data, case studies, etc.).