Sankofa in Cyberspace: Developing New and Social Media at the African Burial Ground National Monument

Summary

            The African Burial Ground National Monument is one of the  smallest units of the National Park Service. Established in 2006, this still developing institution has developed an outsized presence in new and social media; in a short time it has become the most followed unit of the National Park Service on twitter, and has found ways to use podcasts and QR codes to expand the interpretive profile of the site.  These efforts have fhelped unite a disparate series of interest groups, through carefully planned social media strategies. In this article, the head of the African Burial Ground new and social media team will explain what strategies led his site to take this path, assess what accounted for the phenomenal success of new and social media at the African Burial Ground National Monument, and will explore how an aggressive use of digital media can help build and sustain public constituencies necessary to maintaining major scholarly endeavors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Digital Heritage and Archaeology: Applications of Web-based Technology for Community Engagement   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 633