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Telegraph.co.uk

Monday 27 June 2016

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Twitter archive to be stored by Library of Congress

America's Library of Congress is to create a digital archive of Twitter as a historical record.

To non-believers, it is a forum for inane chatter and idle observations. But with its 106 million users, from Jessica Simpson to the Dalai Lama, Twitter has now won recognition as one of the 21st century's most valuable social legacies.

In an extraordinary agreement with Twitter's founders, the Library of Congress – the world's largest library and America's oldest federal institution – is to create a digital archive of the several billion tweets publicly posted on the social networking site since its inception in 2006.

No longer, it seems, will messages such as "I'm on the train" and "Queuing for doughnuts" necessarily be considered meaningless.

The library, whose mission is to "further human understanding and wisdom", sees Twitter as a rich source for anthropological research that will give future generations insight into how we lived and the issues important to us, just as letters, journals and photographs have for previous centuries.

"The Twitter digital archive has extraordinary potential for research into our contemporary way of life," said James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress.

"This information provides detailed evidence about how technology-based social networks form and evolve over time. The collection also documents a remarkable range of social trends. Anyone who wants to understand how an ever-broadening public is using social media to engage in an ongoing debate regarding social and cultural issues will have need of this material."

The information is being donated to the Library free of charge.

The announcement came as Twitter held its first developer conference, at which it revealed that while just 5,000 tweets were sent each day in 2007, that figure is now 55 million a day – an average of 600 tweets per second.

"A tiny percentage of accounts are publicly protected but most of these tweets are created with the intent that they will be publicly available. Over the years tweets have become part of significant global events. from historical elections to devastating disasters," said a statement from Twitter.

"It's very exciting that tweets are becoming part of history."

The news has brought mixed reaction.

"I think Twitter will be one of the most informative resources available on modern-day culture, including economic, social and political trends, as well as consumer behaviour and social trends," said Professor Margot Gerritsen, of Stanford University's Department of Energy Resources Engineeing.

But American humorist Andy Borowitz used his Twitter account to scoff at the move.

"Library of Congress to acquire entire Twitter archive – will rename itself Museum of Crap," he tweeted.

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