Library of Congress to Archive Tweets
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
Really... I dont know the library of congress kind of seems like a place where you would keep important documents and the largest array of books ever from the greatest writers and minds the world has every seen.
Actually this is a very nice way to express the state of the world.
Actually this is a very nice way to express the state of the world.
I think it is a wonderful idea to put everyone's shit in the same pile in a government facility. When all the banality starts to overflow the servers, the people can blame the government for all the useless bullshit coming out from them. At least they will have a reason to blame the government for something they don't like that is, instead of regretting their decision to elect them to office in the first place.
Well, sociology and anthropology just got a whole lot easier.
I can just imagine some poor student running keyword searches fifty years from now and trying to work out just what the hell "rofl" means.
You didn't think all those internet acronyms would stay in common usage forever, did you? "Dad, nobody says 'lol' anymore!"
I can just imagine some poor student running keyword searches fifty years from now and trying to work out just what the hell "rofl" means.
You didn't think all those internet acronyms would stay in common usage forever, did you? "Dad, nobody says 'lol' anymore!"
That's the idea[footnote]I think, might be wrong[/footnote] as it's usually been incredibly difficult to find out what trivial things people used to do. Without the trivial information it's much harder to form a picture of what people actually did and thought during a certain period of time.Chimaera said:"A lot of it is going to be trivial fluff,"
More like most. I wonder if there were a way to opt out how many people would use it?
I thought the Library of Congress was massive, filled with all sorts of books on all sorts of subjects.
Putting in Tweets just sounds so stupid. I don't fucking care what these people think. It's so fucking superfluous. Even the more obscure of books in the library had a subject to them, even if no one was interested. Who's going to read this shit? Let's just fill the place up with endless "LOL I fell", "I was sooooo wasted last night!" and the ever popular "LOL GAYZ".
I hope wherever they are situated, it's nowhere near anything of actual use, and burns down soon.
Putting in Tweets just sounds so stupid. I don't fucking care what these people think. It's so fucking superfluous. Even the more obscure of books in the library had a subject to them, even if no one was interested. Who's going to read this shit? Let's just fill the place up with endless "LOL I fell", "I was sooooo wasted last night!" and the ever popular "LOL GAYZ".
I hope wherever they are situated, it's nowhere near anything of actual use, and burns down soon.
This article reminds me of the diary of "William Defoe" who lived in London through the great fire and black plague years. His writings give historians a good insight into the past, and so I believe twitter has similar potential. A part of the history of globalization and internet culture where many of the messages are not significant but rather the context they provide about the world at the time.
This is actually an incredibly good idea.
1) Twitter is an extremely popular tool. It's the shortest, quickest, simplest way to record almost all of modern humanity. You might think blogs, or something else, are the better way, but those are too large to collect every singe one. Twitter is a simpler service that would take up less space.
2) This is about the first time in history when we possess the technology to record the histories of ANYONE for historical storage. Before, we only had what remained, or what survived. This will be the first generation in humanity where EVERYONE will be on record.
3) Everyone on record, for better or worse, will provide valuable insight. Even the worthless stuff such as "epic burrito" will be recorded.
AND IT SHOULD
because I, as a future historian, would much rather have boundless information of ranging quality than none (or worse, "selected" that represents out society). Using search engines (which I'm sure will be implemented), historians and sociologists will be able to look up how almost anyone felt about any subject.
4) So if Global Warming really does fuck up our planet, or Obama messes up, a classic movie is made, or anything else happens. People can look back and get BOTH sides of the story, not just the one that history's victor wrote. (so if future people thought we were stupid for liking AVATAR, we can prove them wrong with historical documentation)
5) I'm seriously considering setting up an account now. I still think Twitter is stupid. But I think my own little contribution to the sociological development of my generation is too important. I'm not gonna let it run my life, but I would like my life (even just the smallest part) to be recorded.
6) You can bash it all you want, but do YOU have a better idea on how to record the thoughts of people in today's world for historical services? To be honest, I think this is almost as good as the Census. And if you don't like it, let's see YOU do better.
1) Twitter is an extremely popular tool. It's the shortest, quickest, simplest way to record almost all of modern humanity. You might think blogs, or something else, are the better way, but those are too large to collect every singe one. Twitter is a simpler service that would take up less space.
2) This is about the first time in history when we possess the technology to record the histories of ANYONE for historical storage. Before, we only had what remained, or what survived. This will be the first generation in humanity where EVERYONE will be on record.
3) Everyone on record, for better or worse, will provide valuable insight. Even the worthless stuff such as "epic burrito" will be recorded.
AND IT SHOULD
because I, as a future historian, would much rather have boundless information of ranging quality than none (or worse, "selected" that represents out society). Using search engines (which I'm sure will be implemented), historians and sociologists will be able to look up how almost anyone felt about any subject.
4) So if Global Warming really does fuck up our planet, or Obama messes up, a classic movie is made, or anything else happens. People can look back and get BOTH sides of the story, not just the one that history's victor wrote. (so if future people thought we were stupid for liking AVATAR, we can prove them wrong with historical documentation)
5) I'm seriously considering setting up an account now. I still think Twitter is stupid. But I think my own little contribution to the sociological development of my generation is too important. I'm not gonna let it run my life, but I would like my life (even just the smallest part) to be recorded.
6) You can bash it all you want, but do YOU have a better idea on how to record the thoughts of people in today's world for historical services? To be honest, I think this is almost as good as the Census. And if you don't like it, let's see YOU do better.
