線上社群應用於博物館之策略分析

Abstract

近年來有愈來愈多世界各地的博物館，運用Web2.0社會媒體，重新反思與大眾之間的溝通模式。Web2.0主要以線上社群為概念，鼓勵經驗分享和協同創作，運用得宜者，不單能讓觀眾將博物館的文物知識，轉化成個人化的日常絮語，也能為館舍本身的學術內涵，注入多樣化的地方故事及不同族群的生活記憶。其迷人之處，在於即便是規模最小的館舍，也可能與國家級博物館俱備同等的影響力，用極小的投資網羅極大的潛在觀眾群。 本研究旨在探索線上社群應用於博物館教育之策略。援引個案研究法，立意取樣五所位於倫敦且具備豐富經驗的博物館，展開為期十二月的參與式觀察。資料蒐集包含網路與實體兩部分；前者以虛擬民族誌作為方法論，針對五起個案進行每日的線上田野駐紮，持續紀錄其演化脈絡中的社群動態及成員對話；後者以各個案實體博物館之親訪，體驗展覽場域並參與相關活動，再訪談各主事者以了解館舍在社群運用上的理念籌畫及幕後難題。 用以檢視個案發展的學理框架為Wenger等人(2002)的「實踐社群」理論，以其三大要素及七大設計原則剖析各個案社群的應用策略，和不同作風之博物館在社群經營上的歧異性。同時，從博物館教育的觀點，審視各個案作為一個實踐社群，在意義建構、觀眾研究、虛實循環三大實務層面上的體現。研究發現運用線上社群之成功奏效與否，取決於博物館能否由下而上納入草根群眾的智慧等因素。研究結果並以本論文最佳的實踐社群個案為範例，提煉出一套啟迪性原則，以供有心發展線上社群的博物館之參考。Online applications associated with Web 2.0 have in recent years become part of mainstream museum practice, through which communication with the general public has since embraced a far more user-centered approach than before. As a key concept of this approach, the online community, through social media, has increasingly been adopted by museums with the aim of facilitating interactive dialogues and collaborative participation. In the field of museum education, creating online communities signifies that people are provided with a platform where they can be engaged in knowledge production together with the museum, and therefore has a great potential to foster their loyalties and a higher level of visitor involvement. This dissertation investigates strategies for creating online communities in the context of museum education. Through case studies, the author has selected five online communities of five museums in London to conduct participatory observation over 12 months. Data collection comprises both online and on-site undertakings. With the former, the author recorded a series of field notes from the five community sites on a daily basis using virtual ethnography as a methodology. With the latter, the author visited the gallery spaces of the five museums where she took part in related programs and exhibitions, and organized interviews with the community coordinators of the five cases. The theoretical framework applied to examine the five cases in this study is Community of Practice (CoP), a social theory of learning. The author carefully compared the five cases through CoP’s three fundamental elements and seven design principles, and discovered how their conformity with this framework reflects and impacts on the overall performance of the online communities. An analysis is followed from the perspective of museum education, to present how each case, as a community of practice, embodies the practical aspects of meaning construction, audience research, and the connection between online and on-site activities. On close examination throughout the study, this dissertation concludes with the best example of CoP, from which a scheme of feasible strategies is formulated, that could be used by museums and cultural institutions.