Open Forum

Hi y'all!

Wondering if anyone has some tips on integrating a social media wall into an exhibition on the cheap. It would be great to encourage some social sharing and community building through interactive elements in our exhibits (think "Take and share a selfie!"). Looking online, most of the web based applications like walls.io are prohibitively expensive for our scope, or the free tier lacks critical features (for instance, Wallrus's free tier doesn't include moderation tools). I'm pretty proficient and learn quick, so a more technical option would work fine. I could certainly just regularly update a photo scroll, but that adds significant maintenance work, and lacks the immediacy that lends the fun to social sharing. Has anyone here built a social wall with an application that fits in a smallish museum budget?

------------------------------
Drew Whatley
Museum Educator
Whatcom Museum
Bellingham WA
------------------------------

I have not tried this, but might be worth exploring:

If you are open to using existing social media platforms (say if you have a special hashtag on the wall nearby), then this could work okay.

You could use an auto refresh plugin for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/easy-auto-refresh/aabcgdmkeabbnleenpncegpcngjpnjkc?hl=en
Run everything full  screen off a cheap Chromebook (I have purchased for ~150$ before). These are nice because you can mount them behind a cleated monitor easily. I've done it with with drywall screws, or "L" screws would be easy also. "L" screws are nice since you can lock and unlock it sort of. This way you can pull it out and work on it without disturbing the whole set up.

For moderation, you could be signed in on another computer in the office or wherever, and moderate from there.

There are probably some other Chrome plug ins that will allow you to alter the look of any social media site you're using.

------------------------------
Nathaniel Hitchcock
Roxbury NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 9/1/2021 8:35:00 AM
From: Nathaniel Hitchcock
Subject: RE: Exhibit Social Media Wall Tips

I have not tried this, but might be worth exploring:

If you are open to using existing social media platforms (say if you have a special hashtag on the wall nearby), then this could work okay.

You could use an auto refresh plugin for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/easy-auto-refresh/aabcgdmkeabbnleenpncegpcngjpnjkc?hl=en
Run everything full  screen off a cheap Chromebook (I have purchased for ~150$ before). These are nice because you can mount them behind a cleated monitor easily. I've done it with with drywall screws, or "L" screws would be easy also. "L" screws are nice since you can lock and unlock it sort of. This way you can pull it out and work on it without disturbing the whole set up.

For moderation, you could be signed in on another computer in the office or wherever, and moderate from there.

There are probably some other Chrome plug ins that will allow you to alter the look of any social media site you're using.

------------------------------
Nathaniel Hitchcock
Roxbury NY
------------------------------

Hi Drew!

You could try making something with with IFTTT ("If this then that"). They have some good Instagram widgets, as an example.

At Bluecadet we tend to make these with custom code for permanent installs, but for things like events I try to do something like this:
- Use a tool to pull from social (e.g. IFTTT)
- Move those photos somewhere I can control (a Dropbox, a Tumblr page)
- Use those tools for moderation (i.e. I own the Tumblr, so I can delete stuff as needed)
- Make or find a tool to turn my storage tool into a slideshow. I don't have a specific suggestion there, but I bet one is out there
- I've also done things like just showing a fullscreen browser slideshow while using a script to refresh the window periodically. Mac has Applescript, or you could try a Chrome extension.

Cheers!
- Brett

------------------------------
Brett Renfer
Creative Director
Bluecadet
New York NY
------------------------------

We've just started playing around with curator.io for an upcoming exhibit. They have a free version, and a couple different paid levels with varying customization. So far, it seems to have a very usable interface and back-end, and fit our needs (moderation options, pulling specific hashtags, pulling from multiple social media platforms).

------------------------------
Lauren Cooper
Interpretive Planner - Exhibitions
Penn Museum - University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA
------------------------------