The Evolution of Public Interpretation: Instagram, Promotion, and the Passive Narrative

Summary

Following the rise of digital media in photography, the average historic site visitor has more ability than ever to influence the presented narrative of a particular place. While the "expert" interpretation is still a predominant method, the volume and availability of amateur or community user impressions provides a consistent program for engaging these viewpoints in the interpretation. Many archaeological sites have moved to somewhat control this narrative, providing Instagram accounts or "hashtags" for patrons to frame experiences in relation to the site. Social and digital media therefore provides a platform for researchers to understand successes and failures of presented material as it is later related by everyday patrons. This paper will discuss public participation in the archaeological narrative through social media and digital photo-sharing engines, examining the benefits and pitfalls of the rise in digital passive storytelling as related to the public interpretation of archaeological and historical sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Interpretation and Presentation of Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Sites: Evolving Horizons   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 264