Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum may not be as rich, famous or fancy as some temples of culture, but in one increasingly crucial category, it's right up there with some pretty big names.
Consider this: With 500,000 followers, the Warhol is the seventh most "followed" museum in the world on Twitter, right after the Metropolitan Museum of Art and just ahead of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, according to Museum-analytics.org.
And that, according to a report released today by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, exemplifies how digital technology is transforming arts organizations in this country -- especially younger, smaller groups that don't use the Internet just for marketing and promotion but, the report said, for "broadening the boundaries of what is considered art."
While most of the Warhol's popularity on Twitter may simply be "because of Andy," said Joshua Jeffrey, director of digital engagement at the Warhol, it's also in keeping with the museum's mission to educate and inspire its audience in a way "that's interesting and subversive."
"We do a ton of stuff. We have a website that changes almost every day and we post on multiple media platforms," he said. A few months ago, there was a "do it yourself" exhibit where visitors could post their own art next to a Warhol creation for their own "15 minutes of fame" on Twitter, he noted.
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