Museums During the Pandemic. The Important Role of Social Media

Resumen

The digital in museums, in particular the use of social media, has intensified over the past few years, with special intensity during the year 2020. The pandemic of COVID-19 become an opportunity to reflect on the potential of social media, and the importance of this tool for the connection and collaboration between museums and their audiences. Faced with the pandemic scenario, most governments felt on the verge of decreeing the confinement of citizens, as well as the closure of all non-essential services for an indeterminate period. Museums were forced to close their doors and faced a moment in their History that had hitherto preceded it, of confinement, restrictions on circulation, closing of borders, breaking of tourism, the feeling of insecurity and generalized fear that drove visitors away from the rooms of museums. Social media have become an essential tool for museums in fulfilling their basic functions, as well as functioning as a vehicle for sharing content about the museum and museum collections that functioned in battling isolation and loneliness, as well as promoting well-being, disseminating education about the virus, sharing knowledge about artifacts, and so on.