BC Museums Association

In January 2025, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, announced new policies that eliminated the company’s in-house fact-checking and moderation teams, permitted hate speech towards immigrants and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and sought to bring “masculine energy” into the company’s corporate culture.

The BCMA has engaged in projects and conversations with our members around the ethical use of social media, the impacts of AI, and the perpetuation of online hate.

From these conversations, it has become clear that continuing to use Meta platforms does not align with our values. As a result, the BCMA has decided to disengage from all Meta platforms, beginning May 16, 2025.

The BCMA will no longer be actively engaging on these accounts, but will not be deleting the accounts to avoid any misuse or misrepresentation of our name. We plan to make it clear in our bios and final posts that those accounts are not actively monitored and to redirect to more reliable methods of reaching us.

We recognize that the ethical use of social media remains questionable and that no companies are perfect. Moving forward, our use of social media will remain critical and adaptable to ensure that we continue to operate in alignment with our vision and values.

We encourage our members to join us outside of Meta. The BCMA has a monthly member newsletter where you can find out about our upcoming events and programming, a monthly online meetup for real-time networking, a regular podcast for museum sector news, and our listserv is a great way to stay up to date on sector news and opportunities. Moving forward, you will still find us on Bluesky (.bsky.social) and LinkedIn (bc-museums-association). Lastly, you can always contact us at [email protected] with your questions or concerns.

If you are interested in learning more about what went into this decision, consider watching our webinar BCMA Panel: Museums, Social Media, and Hate – What Does the Ethical Use of Social Media in 2025 Look Like?, listening to our podcast series WhAI?, and reading our regular EDI updates.

https://museum.bc.ca/

The British Columbia Museums Association (BCMA) Council is seeking a passionate, experienced, business-focused, and strategic Executive Director.

To learn more about the position and how to apply, visit our website: https://museum.bc.ca/now-hiring-executive-director/. Deadline to apply is 12:00 pm PT, May 14, 2025.

BCMA Workshop: Making Your Case - Visitor Data for Advocacy

Tuesday, April 29th, Thursday May 1st, Tuesday May 6th, and Thursday May 8th 2025
9:00 am - 12:30 pm

In a time of austerity and unrest, supporting and empowering our members as places of community, connectivity, support, and advocacy is now more critical than ever. Organizations need funding and accessible tools and hope to accomplish this. Capturing useful data through visitor studies can help you better understand your visitors and communicate your impact. This results in stronger and more successful advocacy and revenue development.

This is a 4-part workshop and will be held over Zoom. Workshop fee: $175.00 for BCMA Members, $250 for non-members.

To learn more and to register, visit our website: https://museum.bc.ca/event-list/?eid=195