Virtual Smithsonian

Using digital technologies, the Smithsonian aims to reach people across the nation and around the globe by building a digital ecosystem where the Smithsonian’s most valuable assets are accessible and can be deployed wherever, whenever, and however they are most needed.

Website Visitors Open Access Social Media Engagement

Website Visitors

150M Website Visitors Fiscal Year 2024 The number of visitors across all Smithsonian websites over a defined time period (the fiscal year). 
Image of Smithsonian website

An important measure of the Smithsonian’s online impact is the number of visitors to its approximately 170 public websites.

Graph Information: Monthly trend graph over the past 13 months of the number of Website Visitors to the Smithsonian’s public websites.
Top 25 Websites by Visitor Count

Open Access

5.2M Open Access Media Assets as of February 1, 2025 Media Assets include 2- and 3-dimensional images of museum, archive, and library collection items. A single collection record or object may be represented by multiple media assets.
36% Collections Records with Open Access Media Assets as of February 1, 2025 Percentage of total museum, archive, and library records that currently include one or more open access media assets.
41.4M Open Access Media Asset Views in Q4 Fiscal Year 2024 Online views of open access media assets in the most recently completed quarter of the fiscal year.
1.2M Open Access Media Asset Downloads in Q4 Fiscal Year 2024 Downloads of open access media assets in the most recently completed quarter of the fiscal year.
counting machine patent model.

Smithsonian Open Access allows anyone to download, share, and reuse more than five million digital assets from the Smithsonian’s collections. These assets may be used for any purpose, without concern about copyright infringement. For more information, visit the Open Access FAQ page. 

Graph Information: This chart shows open access digital assets viewed over time. Individual Smithsonian units may be selected from the drop-down menu.

Social Media Engagement

37.1M Social Media Engagements Fiscal Year 2024 Social Media Engagements: The number of times users engaged with Smithsonian content on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter). This includes actions users take such as commenting, sharing, saving, or reacting to Smithsonian content.
78.5M Video Views Fiscal Year 2024 Video Views: The number of times users on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) viewed Smithsonian videos.
60.3K Messages Sent Fiscal Year 2024 Messages Sent by the Smithsonian: Posts and messages published by the Smithsonian on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Pinterest.
937.3K Messages Received Fiscal Year 2024 Messages Received by the Smithsonian: Messages received by the Smithsonian from the public on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter).
Man taking selfie at Wonder exhibit, Renwick Gallery

The Smithsonian uses social media to increase our digital reach through engaging storytelling that represents all Smithsonian disciplines. The Smithsonian and its museums, research centers, and education programs maintain numerous social media accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Most are linked to the Smithsonian's social media management system.

Graph Information: In early 2023, the Smithsonian switched to a new method for capturing social media statistics. This graph shows quarterly aggregate Engagement measures for the platforms shown below the graph.
Spotlight Posting

ODT/OCIO