Techno-society at the service of memory institutions: Web 2.0 in museums

Social media have the potential to transform the museum visitor into an active participant involved in the creation of knowledge. Nevertheless, the application of the relatively new social computing concept to the cultural heritage sector faces many challenges. Consequently, a greater understanding of the features of the different communication channels and the new methods for measuring the success (or failure) of an exhibition is required. First, we analyse the impact of the use of Web 2.0 technologies on cultural institutions while highlighting the opportunities and risks of user participation. Secondly, we examine some of the experiments implemented by memory institutions paying particular attention to these institutions' interactive relationships with their publics on the Internet. Finally, we explore some hypotheses about the fears of many Catalan institutions in relation to the sociocultural web, and provide a series of recommendations for the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies in museums that will achieve positive results.