We are back on Facebook- what would you like to see?

As part of my role as ‘Transforming Archives’ Trainee I have been looking at the use of social media and archives. I am now coordinating our Facebook and Twitter accounts and as a result would like to ask you your opinions about what you would like to see on our newly-reinstated Facebook page:

·  What content would you like to see posted by the Hull History Centre? Images? Informative links? Video?

·  Would you like to see our events (eg. History Makers and Lunchtime Club) advertised on Facebook? Or post-event photographs?

·  Are you interested in photographs of collections?

·  Are you interested in hearing about our latest projects?

We would like to provide content that would interest and inspire you and will appreciate any feedback received.


You can find our Facebook page on: www.facebook.com/hullhistorycentre

Why are we recommencing our Facebook account?

Facebook is a channel which we began using in 2009 to update the public on the construction of the new building and moving of all the archives but we did not continue to use it, and efforts concentrated on our Twitter account (@hullhistorynews).

I have been researching the use of Facebook specifically to engage online users with archives services as a whole, and discovered that most services who use Facebook use it to show the online world images of their archival collections and also to promote outreach events and talks. Facebook has been harnessed by other archives as a very visual platform which makes it very appealing for sharing images and video.

A UK focus group in the Taylor & Francis report (October 2014)  “Use of Social Media by the Library” stated that “Institutions follow us on Twitter but students follow us on Facebook”, furthermore it was reported that “Facebook is most effective for delivering multiple objectives”.  Are we excluding audiences who only use Facebook and not Twitter? Do different audiences prefer using Facebook over Twitter?

After much research, we have decided to recommence our use of Facebook, although there is the issue of evaluating the success of using this additional platform. How can we measure the impact of Facebook influencing the number of visitors to the Hull History Centre and the events we host (such as History Makers and Lunchtime Club Talks)?

These issues we will experiment with in the next coming months as we develop the page and hopefully engage more people with the fascinating work going on at the Hull History Centre.

Hannah Rice

Transforming Archives Trainee

H.Rice@hull.ac.uk