9/5/2021 The use of mobile phones in museums: pros and cons - News - Barco

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Nov 04, 2020

The use of mobile phones in

museums: pros and cons
MUSEUM
| 5 min read

Did you know that more people have a cell phone than own a toothbrush?
Yes, you’ve read that correctly. Out of the 7.2 billion humans on the planet in
2016, 4.2 billion people had a mobile phone while only 3.2 billion owned a
toothbrush.[1] It’s impossible to imagine a world without our mobile devices.
We take them everywhere: to the supermarket, the office, the bar… But what
about taking them into museums?

Museums and mobile phones have a complicated relationship for multiple

reasons. Next to arguments about copyright issues and photo flashes
potentially damaging the delicate artifacts, opponents have claimed that using
phones in museums would take away from the real-life experience. But is this
really true? We talked with our museum panelists on what they think about
mobile phones in museums.

Museum etiquette
Let’s assume most people do take their phones with them during a museum
visit. Do they also actually use them? Dave Patten from the Science Museum in
London did some research in the past and it turns out that “the barriers are
many and people are not that keen on using [their phones] in museums”. One
reason is because we’re too thoughtful and wary of what other people might
think if we pull out our phones to take pictures of the collection pieces. It
seems to be an unwritten rule in the established etiquette of museums.

Indeed, some museums still have a restriction policy in place when it comes to
(flash) photography. And it might be for good reasons too, so guests should
always respect that request. But more and more museums are welcoming
mobile devices and are fully embracing photography by visitors with relaxed
photo-taking rules.

Do it for the Gram

What’s even more, the rise of the online social photo platform Instagram in
particular and the explosive success of Insta-friendly pop-up installations have
changed the way traditional museums organize their space with
photographable elements. It creates interactivity between visitors and the

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