Social Media
The Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History maintains an active presence on several social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, while currently suspending its activity on X. Although the number of specific followers may fluctuate, generally speaking we favor organic engagement without the use of sponsored content by naturally creating a community of individuals interested in art history and related fields. Over all platforms we currently count ca. 10,000 followers.
Facebook (ca. 4,200 followers at the time of writing): On Facebook, we share updates on research projects, open calls and positions, upcoming events, publications, and highlights from our extensive photo and book collections. Posts often include images from the collections, photos of lectures and exhibitions, and information about collaborations with other institutions. Followers are primarily from Italy (65.8%), followed by Germany (7%) and the USA (3.3%). One of the advantages of Facebook is its ability to include links, thus allowing us to direct followers to the content on our institutional website. During the past month our content was viewed over 19,000 times. The predominant age group is 35-44 years old.
https://www.facebook.com/bibliothecahertziana
Instagram (ca. 1,900 followers): On Instagram, the focus is on visual content and compelling imagery: on our profile we showcase photographs from our collections, behind-the-scenes insights into ongoing research, and highlights from selected excursions and events. This platform serves to highlight the Institute’s rich visual resources and to engage an audience of art historians and affiliated scholars. The country of origin of followers is comprised similarly to Facebook, but the most represented age group is 25-34 years old, which is in line with the generally younger demographic of this platform. This account was launched only in early 2024, the number of followers is therefore significantly smaller than on Facebook. Despite the smaller scale of this community, or even because of it, the number of content interactions is currently around twice as high as on Facebook. A possible reason for this enhanced responsivity might also be the use of stories, i.e., content that appears at the top of followers’ feeds, thus making it highly visible. Because stories are displayed in a prominent location, they receive more attention and have a higher chance of being viewed. The temporary nature (disappearing after 24 hours) creates urgency, prompting followers to engage before the content vanishes.
https://www.instagram.com/bhmpi/
Bluesky (ca. 500 followers): As a newer platform with rapid growth, Bluesky is used by the Institute for more immediate communication with its audience through concise and impactful posts. Similar to what used to be the case on Twitter, there is a limit of 300 characters per post. Launched in late 2024, this is youngest of our social media profiles.
https://bsky.app/profile/bhmpi.bsky.social
X (formerly Twitter, ca. 2,600 followers): As the longest-running social media profile of the Institute, Twitter served as a rapid communication tool with an organically reached international scientific community. Recent changes to the platform, now called X, and a general shift of users away from this platform convinced us to temporarily pause all activity on this account in late 2024 and try out Bluesky instead (see above). The account still exists but is not active. Followers are directed to the other platforms through a pinned message on the now inactive profile.
https://x.com/BiblHertz