Recent project: Web Text Analysis Based on Social Media

Web Text Analysis Based on Social Media: Visitor Studies of UCCA Center for Contemporary Art

基于社交媒体的网络文本分析——尤伦斯当代艺术中心观众研究

Ullens Center for Contemporary Art 

Analyzing Platform - Voyant Tool

Data Collection - Dianping.com

Time scale - Before and After December 2019

Abstract: This paper takes UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China, as an example, using web text analysis from comments of audiences on Dianping.com, combined with UCCA’s goal to analyze its micro-strategy, transformation of strategies, and the effects of transformation. Moreover, this paper reveals the changes in visitors’ focus and remaining problems of UCCA before and after COVID-19. The results show that UCCA used a more economical membership mechanism to establish close relationships with audiences, which made the complaints of high-price tickets less. Before the pandemic, the audience focused on the content of exhibitions, however, after that, the demands of audiences became more abstract and they tend to talk about their feelings and emotions generated from exhibitions. Meanwhile, UCCA switched its exhibition themes to be more related to the times and people to communicate with the audience more deeply. In a post-pandemic era, on-site studies sometimes are restricted in China, while studying museum visitors based on acquiring data from social media is relatively steady. Meanwhile, the paper provides a method for art managers to replicate the study that can be used for analyzing their institutions.

Keywords: museum experience; visitor studies; art institutions; web text analysis; COVID-19