Using Facebook to build a community in the Conjunto Arqueológico de Carmona (Seville, Spain)

Abstract

When the Conjunto Arqueológico de Carmona (Seville) was
inaugurated as the first open-air archaeological museum in Spain
in 1885, the institution enjoyed a local community of people
interested in archaeology, but this community lost strength over
time. One hundred years later, the institution has the goal of being
a participative museum, and rekindling a special relationship with
the local population, to form a new community of users which
complements visitors. This article presents the preliminary results
of a descriptive and exploratory study involving Facebook use to
find out the demographic characteristics of people interested in the
Conjunto Arqueológico de Carmona, as previous research to form
a local community interested in archaeology and cultural heritage.
Special attention is paid to the role played by education through
archaeology as a means to improve social empowerment.