Library of Congress archives tweets

[Cynomys]

Several news stories today noted that the LoC has just completed the archiving of all tweets for the years 2006-10 and will be archiving all tweets going forward:

http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2013/...-2010-this-month-now-has-170b-tweets-on-file/

The current total is 170 billion, growing at 500 million per day. I am speechless (or perhaps tweetless) by this news. Here we are archiving tweets while destroying the environment. Or, more succinctly, ***!

Sorry this post exceeded the "tweet limit" of 140 characters.

 

[Toothpick]

133tb of data....and growing daily. This is the future. it's for "research purposes" for college students. ssssuuuurrrreee it is.

 

[Go West Young Man]

it's a widely used and very popular method of communication, archiving that kind of thing is the job of the Library of Congress.

not every tweet is gold, but 99 percent of everything is junk. Keeping a record of this data is just as important for future research as holding onto copies of every film and recording made in the 20s and 30s, regardless of how lousy they actually are.

 

[Cynomys]

it's a widely used and very popular method of communication, archiving that kind of thing is the job of the Library of Congress.

not every tweet is gold, but 99 percent of everything is junk. Keeping a record of this data is just as important for future research as holding onto copies of every film and recording made in the 20s and 30s, regardless of how lousy they actually are.

Fair enough. And it might well be that 99% of everything published in, say, book form, or made into film or recording, is junk. But there is still this significant difference from a tweet; that "junk" actually is the product of somebody's thought or consideration, however deficient it may be. Almost all tweets, on the other hand, involve very little reflection and consideration. Now maybe that's an asset from some perspectives (e.g. that of psychology), but it almost guarantees that, however low the percentage of gems is for traditionally published material, the percentage will be even lower for tweets.

To be honest, I do not know what the legislative mandate (the "job") of the LoC is supposed to be, or whether, if it be too inclusive, it should be truncated somewhat. I do know that an important early event in re-stocking the LoC after it was burned in 1814 was provided by Thomas Jefferson, who sold his personal library to the LoC for that purpose. And however inclusive his library was for the times (it was the largest personal library in the United Sates), its contents represented a process of selection, not all-inclusive accumulation.

 

[Phog Allen]

Hmmm, now if only we could find a way to reduce federal spending.....

Exactly what I was thinking. BTW, I find the whole Twitter thing even more inane than Facebook. To me an IM program makes much better sense for person to person communications. Think of it as a digital CB radio except no one has to listen to the ridiculous chatter unless they are a part of it. Twitter and Facebook seem to be mostly for people who are looking for their 15 minutes 15 seconds of fame. I know, I know. They have their purpose. I simply cannot figure out what relevence they have in my life.

Cheers, Todd

 

[the beav]

This is the future. it's for "research purposes" for college students. ssssuuuurrrreee it is.

it's a widely used and very popular method of communication, archiving that kind of thing is the job of the Library of Congress.

not every tweet is gold, but 99 percent of everything is junk. Keeping a record of this data is just as important for future research as holding onto copies of every film and recording made in the 20s and 30s, regardless of how lousy they actually are.

The Library of Congress is supposed to keep a historical record of governmental entities and important events--not the daily communication of everyone. And even with these, very often they only keep a small sample of all of the data available and throw away the rest.

Researching tweets is almost like researching junk mail--somewhat interesting but almost irrelevant. I don't see what can be learned from it, except to see how much buzz a certain topic generated, or how so-and-so made a fool of himself.

 

[Matt555]

Researching tweets is almost like researching junk mail--somewhat interesting but almost irrelevant. I don't see what can be learned from it, except to see how much buzz a certain topic generated, or how so-and-so made a fool of himself.

Sorry, but this is simply not true. Twitter helped facilitate the Arab Spring and has played a role in helping citizens transmit information when authoritarian dictators are tightening their grip on their countries. Not everyone uses Twitter to post pictures of their food, complain about how they got a white Ipad for Christmas when they wanted a black one, or asking question that make you lose faith in humanity.

 

[Go West Young Man]

One can argue that tweets, like those early voice recordings that the LoC is admired for having kept, are BETTER historical records, simply because they reflect how people actually communicated.

By their nature, other technologies impose an artificial layer on top of communication. There's a filter of editing and compiling, movie studios and recording labels, that creates a sanitized version of reality that's not reflective of the way real people lived.

 

[the beav]

That's fair enough (re: Arab Spring) so I'll concede on that. But I do think that it's a small minority of the overall tweets. And I guess it could be a good historical record--sometimes.

 

[Matt555]

That's fair enough (re: Arab Spring) so I'll concede on that. But I do think that it's a small minority of the overall tweets.

Well, yeah...I agree with that. Buzzfeed quite frequently has compilations of tweets that really make you want to just give up faith in humanity. Most people do use Twitter as a digital Journal of sorts which I find a bit odd since people don't seem to value privacy like they used to. I don't have a Twitter account and cannot think of anyone I care enough about to follow on Twitter.