Like everyone else, you no doubt follow the Library of Congress on Twitter, so you know what’s coming. But for those squares who don’t, the Library yesterday tweeted its acquisition of the entire Twitter archive.
No mistake, it’s a banner day for saving things. For instance, DirtyRed38′s “I don’t respect any man who puts his hands on a female!! Re-Tweet if u agree”: archived forever. IDoThat2′s “If I really like a book I can’t stop reading until I finish it”: archived. MistressJuliya’s “Calling all alcohol loving metal heads! I will be bartending at 3 of Cups tonight! Metal and Alcohol … GOOD TIMES! 5th st and 1st Ave”: archived. Scarlett_cherry’s “… Vintage shopping … found AMAZE ombre leopard pint jacket … too big … handed it to 77 year old Russian lady … now she’s cherry POPPIN fierce …”: archived. After 210 years of existence, the Library is finally getting around to keeping the good stuff.
According to Yahoo, there are 50,000,000 new Twitter posts everyday, and total all-time posts number in the billions, which seems like a lot. But remember, only some of them are indulgent and ridiculous: “Recognizing that the inane tweets will certainly outnumber the significant ones, the Library of Congress plans to highlight the culturally and historically important tweets, such as the first-ever tweet sent by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, President Obama‘s tweet announcing his win in the 2008 election and a set of tweets that helped a photojournalist get released from prison in Egypt.” That’s how I learned we had a new President, by the way. Just like you did, I’m sure. From Twitter. A better example would probably be Tweets from last year’s Iranian election protests, when Twitter briefly became a conduit for revolution.
The real use and value of the archiving announcement is likely to be for historians. Such a vast trove of data will aid in understanding this strange moment to which humanity has brought itself. Will it be an inviting portrait of historians of the future dredge from our Twitter-lode? There is hope, of course. For all the scorn thrown its way, Twitter has its benefits, and these too will go into the Library’s archives. Twitter connects us to one another more quickly and more easily than any other medium, and the archives will include countless instances when Twitter aided in a fundraising effort or helped raise awareness on an issue. Some of these issues are Shaquille O’Neal’s preferred Gatorade flavors, but who are we to say what is worthy and what is not? Archive it all, Library. Archive it all.
Let us hope. At the very least, they will be able to say definitively which Gatorade flavors Shaquille O’Neal liked best, way back in 2010. That is something, my friends.
Photo by Trurelio via Wikimedia Commons.