Welcome to issue 104 of Digital Things, by Alec Ward. Good news, everyone. Tickets for our Let's Get Real conference are now on sale and we've announced the programme. It's at M Shed, in Bristol, and this year we're exploring how digital can add value for cultural audiences, communities and organisations. Really looking forward to hearing our morning keynote, Trish Thomas, Head of Digital Innovation at London Museum. I've shared lots of Trish's thinking and insights around digital innovation in this newsletter over the last year, so it'll be exciting to hear her thoughts on London Museum's transformation journey IRL! Also I used to work for London Museum, so it’ll be nice to find out how they’re getting on. Great stuff. We'd love to see you there and you can get your tickets (currently from £99, but they’re going quick!) on our website.
Don’t forget to check out and subscribe to The Digital Snapshot (also free, also put together by me, more frequently with more in-depth insights).
I’m at the AMA Digital Marketing day today (21 November), so come and find me at the exhibitor’s section and say hey. I’ll be the white guy with the beard.
X is now using our Tweets to train its AI. At the moment you can opt out, but let’s see how long that lasts.
The MERL joined Bluesky and Joe Vaughn (Socials and Marketing Lead) has shared some initial insights on their move to the platform.
The Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Rufus Norris, has said that a TikTok style dynamism should be embraced in theatre, focusing on fast-paced storytelling.
And speaking of fast-paced storytelling, The Globe was nominated for a Lovie award, as a finalist in the Viral Video category.
A couple of weeks ago, The Tank Museum reached 1million YouTube subscribers - an incredible milestone. Here are some thoughts on that achievement from their Head of Marketing and Engagement, Nik Wyness.
Here’s an interesting look at the Twitter mass-exodus and the Bluesky bubble.
Jonathan Talmi recently launched The Living Museum, which uses Claud AI to bring life to collections on the British Museum's database. You can ask the objects questions, and they'll answer them. It's a very interesting concept, one which has sparked a lot of conversation in the sector. What do you think of it?
Unesco has warned that AI could rewrite Holocaust history.
On the theme of 3D cultural heritage this 3D digitisation of the Endurance is quite impressive, using hundreds of images of the shipwreck taken at 3km below sea level. Ernest Shackleton's ship sank more than a century ago.
Have you heard about The National Gallery's 200 Creators project? They're building a network of digital creators to help celebrate their 200th birthday this year.
Australia will soon introduce legislation to ban children under the age of 16 from using social media. How that would work is anyone's guess and the pros and cons are a bit of a minefield - but it's probably better than burying our heads in the sand... maybe.
Russia has fined Google more money than there is in the entire world (two undecillion roubles). Some real Dr. Evil shit. In other news, this is the first time I've heard of the number 'undecillion'.
A number of cultural heritage organisations have uploaded their 3D content to Sketchfab over the years and Epic Gams (current owners of Sketchfab) have recently announced that they'll be migrating Sketchfab to Fab, which seems to be more about creating assets for video games and is moving away from their original ideals around supporting the preservation of 3D cultural heritage. Here are some thoughts on the changes from ex-Sketchfab employee, Thomas Flynn.
My colleague, Stephen Miller, has written an excellent article for Arts Professional on the AI revolution in the cultural sector. In it, he answers a number of the most common questions that he's asked about AI.
The Onion recently purchased Alex Jones’ Infowars and they’ve announced that they plan to turn it into a satire site. But, much like any weed, I’m sure Alex Jones will pop up somewhere else in no-time.
📺 Watching: Late to the party, but the other half and I have just started watching Rings of Power. I find a couple of the characters relentlessly annoying (but I think that I’m supposed to?). But, in general, I’m very much enjoying it.
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