Assessing dialogic communication through the Internet in Spanish museums

Dialogic communication is being boosted by the strong development of the social web. The web 2.0 is generating significant changes in the manner that organizations engage in dialogue with their publics, opening the way towards the interactive communication. In this way, web 2.0 tools will foster the dialogic communication between museums and their publics. Through them, the relationship between museums and publics is changing towards more interactive and collaborative forms.The objective of this article is to assess the level of dialogic communication developed by museums on the Internet, by analyzing the use of web platforms and social web applications as tools for dialogic communication by 120 museums in Spain. Two key aspects of communication between museums and publics using the Internet were identified to that end: content management and interaction management. These aspects enable a matrix which makes a distinction between the phases of evolution of the institutional web communication. The results obtained show that the museums studied are predominantly in a phase of monologic communication with their publics.

► Dialogic communication is analyzed through content and interaction management.
► Three stages of website communication: monologic, expanded monologic and dialogic.
► The websites of the museums are highly one-way instruments of communication.
► Most museums are still in a phase of monologic communication with their publics.
► Museums are not using the Internet as a dialogic communication tool.