Comunicare e valorizzare il patrimonio culturale durante la pandemia. Uno studio sull'uso dei social media nei musei universitari a partire dal caso del profilo Instagram del Sistema Museale dell'Università di Bologna

The spread of the COVID-19 virus, in March 2020, forced the closure of cultural institutions around the world. Museums have begun to experiment with alternative forms of use and enhancement of heritage, and to invest in new channels of communication and interaction with their respective audien- ces (Bonacini, 2020; McGrath, 2020). In several cases, museum increased the use of social networks as channels to maintain a relationship with visitors and to continue the mission of disseminating and promoting heritage through digital formats (Agostino, Arnaboldi, Lampis, 2020; Burke, Jørgersen 2020). In this paper we focus on the case of university museums, analyzing the expe- rience of the University Museum System of the University of Bologna. The analysis, which focuses on the Instagram profile @museiunibo (composi- tion of the community; coverage, engagement, and interaction data), proposes a reflection on the contents and editorial strategies used to communicate heri- tage, with the aim of identifying opportunities and limits of social media as a virtual space for use in university museums.