Twitter turned 10 years old earlier this year. Te Papa hasn’t been using twitter quite that long, but the unfortunately named (my fault) @tepapacolonline account, created to share Te Papa’s amazing collections, has been around for a while now, having first dipped its toes in the twitter waters on February 27, 2009.
A lot has happened over that time. Over 3,000 @tepapacolonline tweets, quite a few spider identifications, many, many cats, a sound thrashing of @NLNZ in a tweet-off.
Oh, and that one time I misunderstood the #superbowl hashtag
Te Papa’s overall social media presence has grown and matured over the last 7 years, and we’ve come to the conclusion there is no longer a need for a separate twitter account, in addition to the main account @te_papa. There is a lot over overlap of followers between the two accounts, which can clog up people’s tweet streams; and there is sometimes confusion between the two accounts, which is just plain unuseful. So, after seven years, we will be archiving the @tepapacolonline tweets, and closing the account down. It’s been a lot of fun managing the account from what seems like the early days of Twitter, but it’s time for a graceful retirement.
Thanks to everyone who followed the account who had great questions, jokes, insights, stories, and those who shared their own collections, big or personal. It’s those conversations that made it really worthwhile.
If you don’t already follow @te_papa on twitter, you totally should. You might also like to check out our Facebook page, and our Instagram.
And for more NZ heritage tweets, maybe check out these twitter accounts, they’ve been excellent and entertaining co-tweeters since the early days:
- National Library of New Zealand https://twitter.com/NLNZ/
- DigitalNZ https://twitter.com/digitalnz
- Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand https://twitter.com/te_ara
A great list of New Zealand museums on Twitter here
And a huge list of museums from around the world here:
So long, and thanks for all the RTs.
Adrian Kingston is currently Head of Digital Channels at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa.
Over 25 years he has worked across the GLAM sector including DigitalNZ and the National Library of New Zealand, and across a range of disciplines ranging from conservation, digitisation, born-digital preservation, and collection access. Recently he developed the Digital Product Development Framework, and the Audience Impact Model.
In his current role he is focussing on better understanding digital audiences across New Zealand and the Pacific, the impact of digital engagement for those audiences, and extending the reach and impact of the Te Papa's Digital Museum by reaching beyond the museum's walls, both physical and virtual.
Thanks for sharing the mistakes and humour 🙂