The Most Instagrammed UK Museums of 2016

In the recent past, ’no photography allowed’ signs were commonplace in museums, but the rise of social media has changed that, and encouraging visitors to share ’snappable’ sights is now the policy of many museums.
So which were the most Instagrammed UK museums of 2016? Artnet’s list of The 25 Most Instagrammed Museums of 2016 has the answer:
Only one British museum cracks the top ten… appropriately, The British Museum.
#9 The British Museum
We love this shot by @rfstahl of the Great Court roof. The unusual angle captures many of the curves in this space. There are also some beautiful objects on display in the Great Court – including ancient sculptures, totem poles and, at the moment, even a BMW Art Car for our #SouthAfricanArt exhibition. Tag us in your photos and we’ll share our favourites! #myBritishMuseum #BritishMuseum #ceiling #roof #regram #repost #architecture
A photo posted by British Museum (@britishmuseum) on Dec 29, 2016 at 4:18am PST
Two more make it into the top twenty
#11 The Natural History Museum
From wasps to whales, we were built to catalogue Earth’s wonders. The development of #HintzeHall has been designed to meet the vision of the Museum’s creators – to be the world’s largest and finest institutions dedicated to natural history. The Museum is a labyrinth of scientific learning and Richard Owen, the first superintendent of the Museum, intended it to be an index of the natural world. The new #HintzeHall, opening mid-summer 2017, is being transformed to add the #BlueWhale skeleton and more specimens, representing every aspect of the Museum’s history and continuing work. Owen’s vision of an index museum remains at the heart of the redevelopment, and it will be a space that encapsulates the tremendous breadth and beauty of the natural world. Read the full article on the history of the Museum:http://bit.ly/Indexing-Earths-Wonders #HintzeHall is closed from today until mid-summer 2017 but there’s still plenty to see while we finish #WhaleMove and suspend our blue whale skeleton from the Hall’s ceiling as a dynamic new welcome to the Museum. Find out more about the changes to #HintzeHall: http://bit.ly/Hintze-Hall-Changes-17 Our Queen’s Gate entrance is now open, and is a five-minute walk from Gloucester Road tube station. This entrance is best for visiting the Dinosaurs gallery. Our Exhibition Road entrance is open as usual, closest tube station is South Kensington. This entrance is best for Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Volcanoes and Earthquakes. Plan your route ahead with our map: http://bit.ly/Museum-Map #RichardOwen #WhaleMove #WexfordWhale #BlueWhaleSkeleton #BlueWhale #BalaenopteraMusculus #Balaenoptera #Wildlife #Mammal #MarineMammal #NaturalHistory #NaturalHistoryMuseum #NaturalHistoryMuseumLondon #Museum
A photo posted by Natural History Museum (@natural_history_museum) on Jan 6, 2017 at 4:26am PST
#16 Victoria & Albert Museum
The Museum holds a stunning collection of wedding attire, spanning five centuries and featuring key designers. Extravagant, demure, edgy, elegant, pure white, bold colour – these ensembles are as varied as the brides and grooms who wore them. Browse the collection online and see it in person at the Museum: vam.ac.uk/collections/wedding-dress #vamCollections Wedding Dress and veil, Pam Hogg, 2012, UK. Museum no. T.5-2014. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A photo posted by Victoria and Albert Museum (@vamuseum) on Dec 28, 2016 at 3:07am PST
A final UK museum sneaks into the top 25
#22 The National Gallery
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was one of the leading painters of the Impressionist group. He evolved a technique of broken brushstrokes and used bold combinations of pure complementary colours, to capture the light and movement of his landscapes and figure subjects. Renoir’s work seems always to be about pleasurable occasions, and reveals no great seriousness in his subjects. He apparently shocked his teacher Gleyre by saying, “if painting were not a pleasure to me I should certainly not do it”. You can see paintings by Renoir at the National Gallery in Room 42. Photo by #nationalgallery photographer Maria Conroy. #renoir #pierreaugusterenoir #impressionism #impressisonist #art #arthistory #painting #gallery #instamusum
A photo posted by National Gallery (@national_gallery) on Jan 15, 2017 at 1:15am PST
You’ve probably noticed that at least one obvious name is missing from this list… and there’s a good reason for it according to Artnet:
The Tate Modern was the seventh most visited museum in the world in 2015, with 4.7 million visitors. It doesn’t register in Instagram’s Top 25 Most-Photographed Museums, perhaps because of a more restrictive photo policy.
So there’s a lesson here. If you want lots of user generated content on Instagram, your policies need to reflect that.