Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine issues associated with user engagement on social media with local history in the North East of Scotland and to focus on a case study of the Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Society, a small but very successful and professionally-run community-based local heritage organisation. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach using photo elicitation on social media was deployed in conjunction with analysis of the user interactions and the reach insights provided by Facebook to the page manager. Additionally, a focus group was used. Findings – The research, although focussed on an individual case study, offers significant lessons which are more widely applicable in the local history and cultural heritage social media domain. Key aspects include user engagement and how digital storytelling can assist in the documentation of local communities ultimately contributing to local history research and the broader cultural memory. The significance of the image and the photo elicitation methodology is also explored. Social implications – The research demonstrates new opportunities for engaging users and displaying historical content that can be successfully exploited by community heritage organisations. These are themes which will be developed within the paper. The research also demonstrates the value of photo elicitation in both historical and wider information science fields as a means of obtaining in-depth quality engagement and interaction with users and communities. Originality/value – The research explored the underutilised method of photo elicitation in a local history context with a community possessed of a strong sense of local identity. In addition to exploring the benefits of this method, it presents transferable lessons for how small, community-based history and heritage organisation can engage effectively with their audience.

Introduction

In addition to the traditionally curated local studies section within the public library service, there are a significant number of independent and community-led local history initiatives operating throughout the UK. Social media offers new opportunities for documenting and remembering the society (Henninger and Scifleet, 2016) and for displaying the historical content of these community archives. In particular, the format of social media provides a readymade and easily accessible platform for sharing personal and family photographs, both of which are important in the development of cultural memory (Kuhn, 2007). Further, with the easy accessibility of technology, more people are telling personal stories via digital means, thereby indicating a shift from more traditional methods of storytelling to digital storytelling (Couldry, 2008). The aim of this paper is to report an investigation into user engagement with local studies projects via social media in the North East of Scotland. Specifically, the research was undertaken with the objectives of evaluating how users interact with archival images in both digital and physical contexts, and to analyse the role of social media in both the documentation of local history and as a contributor to cultural memory. This is an area of research which has been explored in limited circumstances so far, particularly in the context of local history. It will also contribute to the wider understanding of how social media impacts upon cultural memory and, importantly, how photo elicitation techniques are of value both in local history terms and for other information science fields. In order to achieve the aim and objectives, the Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Centre (“the Heritage Centre”) was selected as an appropriate case study. Located approximately 17 miles from Elgin on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland, Buckie is a town with a rich fishing heritage. The Heritage Centre has a growing collection of over 8,000 photographs which are accessible in both printed format in folders in the Heritage Centre and also via computers located within the Heritage Centre. The photographic collection represents and encompasses every facet of local life from shipbuilding and fishing vessels to “weel kent” faces (well known). Although the Heritage Centre had an established presence on Facebook, prior to July 2016, the organisation did not make use of social media for showcasing this extensive photographic catalogue. Buckie has a strong sense of local identity which includes the surrounding villages, and until the second half of the twentieth century, the fishing industry was predominant in these communities. The Fishing Heritage Society has benefited from this strong sense of community and identity and has the support, indeed affection, of large parts of the local population. It has succeeded as a heritage organisation because it is a community-led “bottom-up” organisation seeking to preserve the legacy of fishing and related industries.