Instagram is 15 years old. Bought by Facebook in 2012, the simple photo sharing platform has become, with 2 billion active users, one of the most used applications in the world and is placed in the first place of the favorite platforms of 16-64 year olds . This network, cultural institutions knew how to seize it very early: most of them place Instagram today at the heart of their digital strategy, produce specific content there, take advantage of its functionalities. And, on the side of the art market, obviousness is essential: Instagram is, by far, the number one platform in the world. If a number of galleries are not on X, regardless of their size, all are on Instagram and focus their efforts towards it. Perrotin, the most followed by French galleries, brings together on February 6, 680,000 subscribers against just a few thousand on his other networks! “It is a very followed network in contemporary art”underlines the CAPC-Museum of Contemporary Art in Bordeaux. In fact, Instagram is the image network, the launching platform for artists, an international communication channel. “It is also a space for exchange and dialogue that offers real proximity to artists, collectors, curators and art lovers”, Appreciates Magda Danysz, from the Danysz gallery.
For most museums, if other networks count, Instagram also prevails and its use is only growing. Paris museums notes, for example, that“Instagram alone brings together almost half of the total audience on social networks (270,000 subscribers). It is also the channel favored by the city museums ”. Users like the network for the great diversity of formats it offers: sharing photos, videos, stories Interactive, publications crossed with other institutions … now there is the agenda of events, image feedback or information on works and collections. Sometimes more fun, spontaneous and immersive content, which allows you to discover behind the scenes of an exhibition or a restoration of work. And, as the Muma Le Havre recalls, “Instagram is also very frequented by” “young people”, therefore, if we want to reach this population, we have to make ourselves visible on their phone “.
