{"id":278,"date":"2018-04-11T14:20:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T18:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slis.simmons.edu\/blogs\/lis476\/?p=278"},"modified":"2018-04-11T14:20:12","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T18:20:12","slug":"the-archives-hashtag-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slis.simmons.edu\/blogs\/lis476\/?p=278","title":{"rendered":"The Archives Hashtag Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rebecca Sasseville<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no avoiding the power of social media for a cultural heritage institution. It\u2019s free and easy to use for accounts and followers alike. Social media is used by all walks a life, everywhere in the world. Any person who has an internet connection is a potential follow of an institution’s social media account. Facebook has approximately two billion users. Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter accounts number in the hundreds of millions. Sharing online is embedded in today\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

Archives Hashtag Party (AHP) started in the summer of 2017 by the National Archives Records Administration (NARA). Their press release asks archives to, \u201cCome hang out on social media and share highlights from your collections around a different theme each month. We want to mingle with archives from all over and learn about the treasures you hold.\u201d David S. Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States, wrote in his blog that, while the hashtags are entertaining \u201cit also show[s] the relevance of archives.\u201d AHP asks all to participate if they can, not just archives, but libraries, museums and all cultural institutions around the world. NARA posts the theme about a week before the first Friday of the following month. In the past eight months over 500 institutions have participated!<\/p>\n

I run a public library for a small town in Massachusetts and I have very little funding that can go towards outreach. Our business Facebook and Instagram accounts are free and it\u2019s so simple I can have my high school volunteers make a post for us on the fly. Due to the bundling of posts using the same hashtag, an AHP post by my little library will be seen among posts from larger institutions, giving us enormous potential exposure worldwide. Institutions are working together to advocate for the field. The fact that partakers in AHP can include accounts ranging from the almighty NARA to my small library further shows how much power social media has.<\/p>\n

The first hashtag was #ArchivesSquadGoals in August 2017. NARA\u2019s blog explains it as, \u201ca theme that celebrated friendship, style, and history.\u201d By embracing a term like \u201csquad goals\u201d the parties are reaching a younger audience. So far, most of the themes have fit at least vaguely with a holiday that occurs during that month: January\u2019s hashtag was #ArchivesResolutions and February\u2019s was #ArchivesBlackHistory. September\u2019s hashtag was #ArchivesCute, which doesn\u2019t fit into a typical September celebration, but there\u2019s never not a good time to see photos of kittens and babies!<\/p>\n

#ArchivesAwesomeWomen was March 2018\u2019s hashtag making use of Women\u2019s History Month\u2019s rise in popularity. Many cultural heritage institutions may have already queued up social media posts about women in their collections so adding this hashtag once it was announced would have made sharing content easier. NARA naturally joined in that March by sharing a photograph of astronaut Sally Ride on Instagram, writing that she \u201dwas just 32 when she became the first American woman in space. 🚀\u2728 So yeah, we’re feeling pretty good about our lifetime accomplishments so far. 😬\u201d National Archives uses emojis, everyone, can you believe it? How cool!<\/p>\n

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Down time on Air Force One during a trip to Oklahoma calls for a game of #TrivialPursuit<\/a>! 06\/05\/1985 #PresidentReagan<\/a> #ArchivesGameNight<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Uxaa7Cbyer<\/a><\/p>\n

— RonaldReaganLibrary (@Reagan_Library) October 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n