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[3]By Alana Pickrell [4]
BELLEVILLE – The staff at Glanmore Historic Site [5] spent January 18th combining modern day technology with famous artwork, and the results were nothing short of amazing.
With a bowler hat, a bright red tie and a large smile, Museum Technician Dave Cox used his 21st-century technology to snap a quick selfie by the museum’s front sign.
Museum Technician Dave Cox snapped a dapper #museumselfie [6] for #MuseumSelfieDay [7] @GlanmoreNHS [8] @MuseumSelfieDay [9] pic.twitter.com/phuwZAxz4B [10]
— Glanmore NHS (@GlanmoreNHS) January 18, 2017 [11]
Although trips to the museum are sometimes perceived as boring by young people, the world is finding a way to encourage people everywhere to not only visit museums, but also get interactive with the artwork.
Glanmore Historic Site [12] said their specific goals for this event is to get both staff and locals involved in it. By becoming more active on social media and getting involved in the new trending fads around the world, it hopes to draw a younger crowd.
Museum Selfie Day [13] was started in 2014 by Mar Dixon [14], a London-England mom, and has been gaining exposure and participants ever since.
Local museum staff Danielle McMahon-Jones, the administration and collections assistance, was quick to admit the modern day mobile app Snapchat definitely “made it more fun.”
She spent her day seeing which pieces of artwork could be detected on the app to add special filters to the famous pieces.
Leaving the lady of the house out of the fun would be unacceptable 💃🏼🌸🌼 #museumselfie [6] #museumselfieday [15] @glanmorenhs [8] @museumselfieday [9] pic.twitter.com/QjBFnyAmGl [16]
— Glanmore NHS (@GlanmoreNHS) January 18, 2017 [17]
Cinderella and Prince Charming looking very Romantic indeed #museumselfieday [15] #museumselfie [6] @GlanmoreNHS [8] @MuseumSelfieDay [9] pic.twitter.com/C4LzOhK91q [18]
— Glanmore NHS (@GlanmoreNHS) January 18, 2017 [19]
The day trended all over social media but was most popular on Twitter and Instagram where users linked pictures using specific hashtags.
Previously, “MuseumSelfieDay2016” on Instagram had 306 posts, but this year “MuseumSelfieDay2017” had a total of 893 posts an increase of over 500 posts. However, this numbers only represent the people who used the trending hashtags and did not include the infinite number of hashtags that could have been used about this event.
According to McMahon-Jones, “all Canadian museums are really involved,” but it is an event that is evolving worldwide.
In 2014 when the day was first created, she remembers her professors stopping the lecture so the entire class could stop, selfie, and participate in museum selfie day. Ever since she has been an active part of the event.
McMahon-Jones admitted to taking at least 20 selfies yesterday, even though she only posted around six on social media.
The day dedicated to taking selfies with famous artwork typically takes place the third week every January.
[20]Danielle McMahon-Jones uses modern day snapchat dog filter to pose with a famous dog photo. Photo by Danielle McMahon-Jones.
[21]Modern day snapchat dog filter on famous artwork. Photo by Alana Pickrell, QNet News