I just got done reading a most interesting post on the techPresident site. It turns out that the Library of Congress is going to begin archiving the Twitter stream. The LOC views all of our random tweets as part of the new American History. Just think, next to the Abraham Lincoln Papers and one of the most famous images of the Great Depression can now be found images of #Lolcats, locations sent from foursquare and endless amounts of misspelled and inaccurately punctuated meaningless rants.
(Photo credit: CNET Pulse)
When I first read the post, I was scratching my head and wondering what was really the point. But ultimately, I think I get it. While the vast amount of tweets are basically stupid in terms of content, it is a constantly updated stream of conciousness of America and a peek into what we as a nation are thinking and doing. This is somewhat embarrassing, as a whole. They say history is written by the victors. In this scenario, history is written by the victors...and the losers, nerds, bimbos, you-name-it. This is the real America. It's a rather interesting and unique way of cataloguing us, but an authentic way.
It's also interesting to note that ALL of the Twitter feed is being archived. All those tweets you sent out eons ago are still there, just waiting to be logged by the LOC. Given that you are reading this particular type of blog, I would imagine you are more than well aware that electronically stored information is never really gone (with some exceptions, of course, and if you make the effort to properly dispose of it) if you just know how to look for it. But I would venture to guess that most people type it, tweet it and then think of it no more past a few a days. For them, it's gone forever. I'd be interested to see if anyone cries foul over this, though ultimately it wouldn't make a difference. Tweets are public, the end.
So, next time you see @DRUNKHULK tweet about the following: UK SCIENTIST CREATE DESIGNER EMBRYO USE DNA OF MAN AND TWO WOMANS! DRUNK HULK NO KNOW ABOUT YOU! BUT THAT TOTALLY HOT!, you can feel good knowing it's being saved for posterity and that future generations will be able to share in our experience.