By: Gina Reis (University of Minnesota)
Follow Gina on Twitter
A few months ago, I barely knew anything about Twitter. I knew the concept but didn’t see the point of it; I already have a Facebook, which allows you to post a status along with about a billion other applications. Who knew (I certainly didn’t) how big Twitter would become? The efficiency of the “tweet”, a 140 character message, caught on with ease, and currently Twitter receives about 50 million tweets in a single day from people all over the world. Turns out this is making a global impact.
Every tweet ever—sent in by celebrities, news organizations, athletes and every day people—is now going to be filed in the digital archive of the Library of Congress. So basically, anything you or anyone else has ever tweeted will be sitting alongside works by Shakespeare and Thoreau. Upon first word of this I wasn’t completely surprised; I think I was actually a little impressed. The Library of Congress is seeing the importance of Twitter as a social networking platform and a news source.
“The Twitter digital archive has extraordinary potential for research into our contemporary way of life,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “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.”
I think this is pretty awesome—I mean, Twitter has turned into a news source for me. I get all the headlines tweeted to me from my favorite news sources every day.
You do have to recognize, however, that most tweets are not informative, but just for amusement. Many are about Justin Bieber, too.
Here are some funny tweets that definitely deserve a spot in the oldest federal institution in the United States:
@adriarichards: I wonder if really smart people die from brain cancer. I don’t know much about it #Kennedy
@iW1TN3SS: *Breaking News* Ben Roethlisberger has suspension lifted after raping Justin Bieber in public bathroom.
@ConanOBrien: Today is my first real day off from touring. I’m home enjoying what my agent tells me is my family.
Twitter is a platform for celebrities, organizations, TV programs, companies, and the Campus Socialite, to spread the word about their products, articles, shows, projects, etc. Conan O’Brien cleverly used his tweets to bolster his post-Late Show name, and campaign his new comedy tour. It is also lets any person share their 160 character bit of wisdom, or lack of wisdom in some cases.
I now check Twitter every day, but to be honest with you, I usually just use it to stalk other people’s tweets. For me, tweeting is a challenge. I want to be witty, but not seem like I’m trying too hard. I’m not going to tweet “I’m eating cereal” or something. Fact is, though, I could tweet that. As long as it fits into 160 characters, I can tweet whatever the hell I want. And now it will be digitally recorded in the history books that I ate cereal this morning.
So just remember, everything you tweet will be recorded forever. Your grandchildren and great-grandchildren can sift through the archives at the Library of Congress and see that on April 21, 2010 you were “sooo wasted” or on December 16, 2008 you were “on da bus”. Good to know.
