Archives and Social Media – Experiences of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Purpose: This paper examines the extent to which archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina are present on social media, the types of content they publish, and the results they achieve. Particular attention is paid to the existence of a common social media strategy, the identification of target audiences, and opportunities for interaction with users.

Method/approach: The study is based on a descriptive and comparative analysis of publicly available data concerning social media use by the eleven public archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Facebook posts published between 1 January and 31 July 2026 were analysed in terms of their number, content and views, as well as the ways in which archives presented their holdings, institutional activities and communication with users.

Results: Nine of the eleven public archives used Facebook, while two cantonal archives did not use any social media platform. The archives published a total of 335 posts, which received 11,086 views, averaging 33 views per post. The Historical Archives of Sarajevo achieved the highest level of activity and visibility, with 130 posts and 7,200 views. Most posts concerned exhibitions, visits, anniversaries, book promotions, conferences and cooperation between archival institutions. Communication was predominantly one-way, with insufficient differentiation between target audiences and limited opportunities for user interaction. The analysis found no common social media strategy among the archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Conclusions/findings: Social media use by archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains insufficiently planned, strategically coordinated and adapted to different user groups. Strategies should be developed both by individual institutions and, if possible, at the level of the archival service as a whole. Archives should place greater emphasis on content derived from archival holdings, encourage interaction with users, diversify their use of social media platforms, and adapt posts to the characteristics and audiences of each platform.