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# Virtual Smithsonian 

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Using digital technologies, the Smithsonian can reach a much larger audience than the limited number of people who will ever visit its museums, archives, libraries, and other facilities in person. The Institution aims to reach one billion people worldwide with a “digital first” strategy and an "open access" policy for its collections, research, and education resources. 

Website VisitorsOpen AccessSocial Media Engagement

## Website Visitors

170MWebsite VisitorsFiscal Year 2023            The number of visitors across all Smithsonian websites over a defined time period (the fiscal year).         

77Website Satisfaction Score (Average)as of September 2023            The average score, on a scale of 1-100, of responses to a satisfaction survey posed randomly to SI website visitors.          

Two important measures of the Smithsonian’s online impact are the number of visitors to its approximately 170 public websites, and visitors' satisfaction with their online experience. The Smithsonian measures the latter with randomly-posted surveys of its website visitors. The same survey questionnaire is used by over 125 government agencies, non-profits, and educational organizations, allowing the Smithsonian to benchmark its performance against peer organizations

          Graph Information: Monthly trend graph over the past 13 months of the number of Website Visitors to the Smithsonian’s public websites.       

Top 25 Websites by Visitor Count

Website Visitors Satisfaction

## Open Access

5.0MOpen Access Media Assetsas of February 1, 2024            Media Assets include 2- and 3-dimensional images of museum, archive, and library collection items. A single collection record or object may be represented by multiple media assets.        

35%Collections Records with Open Access Media Assetsas of February 1, 2024            Percentage of total museum, archive, and library records that currently include one or more open access media assets.        

24.6MOpen Access Media Assets Viewsin Q1 Fiscal Year 2024            Online views of open access media assets in the most recently completed quarter of the fiscal year.        

27.1MOpen Access Media Assets Downloadsin Q1 Fiscal Year 2024            Downloads of open access media assets in the most recently completed quarter of the fiscal year.        

Smithsonian Open Access allows anyone to download, share, and reuse over four million digital media assets (two- and three-dimensional images) from the Smithsonian’s collections. These assets may be used for any purpose, without concern about copyright infringement. They include images from across the Smithsonian's 21 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, gardens, and National Zoo. For more information, visit the Open Access FAQ page. 

          Graph Information: This chart shows open access digital assets viewed over time. Individual Smithsonian units may be selected from the drop-down menu.      

## Social Media Engagement

42.6MSocial Media EngagementsCalendar Year 2023            Social Media Engagements: The number of times users engaged with Smithsonian content on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter). This includes actions users take such as commenting, sharing, saving, or reacting to Smithsonian content.         

58.6MVideo ViewsCalendar Year 2023            Video Views: The number of times users on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) viewed Smithsonian videos.        

49.6KMessages SentCalendar Year 2023            Messages Sent by the Smithsonian: Posts and messages published by the Smithsonian on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Pinterest.        

356.6KMessages ReceivedCalendar Year 2023            Messages Received by the Smithsonian: Messages received by the Smithsonian from the public on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter).        

The Smithsonian's social media accounts bring the breadth of the Institution to the world through the lenses of art, history, and science. Smithsonian media managers give digital audiences the opportunity to explore the vast resources of the Institution, with Smithsonian educators, curators, and researchers serving as interpretive guides. The central Smithsonian social media presence and the Institution’s individual museums, research centers, and education programs maintain hundreds of official social media accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, most of which are linked to the Smithsonian's social media management system.

          Graph Information: Historical trend graph from October 2015 through the current quarter of the current fiscal year with cumulative counts of YouTube Views and Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram “followers”.      

Spotlight Posting

ODT Smithsonian Organization and Audience Research/OCIO

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