The material role of digital media in connecting with, within and beyond museums

Abstract

The connective potentials of digital media have been positioned as a key part of a contemporary museum visitor experience. Using a sociology of translation, we construct a network of visitor experiences using data from a digital media engagement project at a large and multi-sited museum in the United Kingdom. These experiences relate to (dis)connections with the museum, museum objects and other visitors. Through this analysis, we disclose the often contradictory roles of the non-human, including and going beyond the digital, as contributors to the success and failure of attempts to change museum visitor experiences through engagement activities rooted in narratives of participation and connectivity.