It isn’t the easiest time to be a museum or heritage organisation on social media as many people doom scroll through their feeds, investing their time but not necessarily their attention as they speed through content. The algorithm gives us more of what it thinks we want, and that increasingly includes more images and videos created by AI. Research in 2025 showed that more than 20% of the videos that YouTube’s algorithm shows to new users are “AI slop”. There is also an increasing amount of misinformation, and this relates not just to the news but to historic events. How can museums cut through this chaos to reach audiences and create content that thrives?

 

The panel will discuss their approaches to creating successful social media content. We’ll discuss whether authenticity is a key component to their success, and how authenticity features in how they make content. We’ll also discuss how social media fits with their brand, whether people’s trust in museums translates into trust on social media, and the role that playfulness and humour can play in breaking the doom scroll!