Tag: Tweets

02/2/11

Can History be Trusted?

History was written by people in power for all times, to see from a macroscopic perspective that things recorded in history are not necessarily to be the truth. Everything used to be written in paper and stored physically in library or some other places. There is no doubt that our history is selective. However for the last decades, due to the new technology, recording history seems to be easier than ever. All of news and posts can be archived electronically without limitations. This will give historians a way to archive a wider selection of current events and make a better vivid history. Billions of tweets will be archived at the Library of Congress, people’s random thoughts are now even in the history! For the most important part, if everything is archived through the internet, regulations can’t fully control what will be appear in the history. So now historians have all sources to create history which can be trusted!

Might not be too far form now, not only our tweets but everything we’ve done thought the internet will be archived. It is hard to imagine that our Facebook status, emails, and all our private information will someday be a part of history.  Historians can be overwhelmed by the humongous amount of information. And it rises another issue to historians, how to use these evidence? Are these all true?

02/1/11

Data of The Future

Technology has greatly improved many or most of people’s life throughout the years of computer era. The web has become a place where most people browse for information about just anything; anywhere. Social networking certainly provides unlimited service connecting people all over the world together.  Then again since free social networks like Facebook and Twitter involve with many privacy issues. Many users are concern that their personal lives are being exposed publicly. Yet many idiotic people are posing up statuses or pictures that are laughable to others. No matter what kind of information it is, it could be easily post up on the web. Therefore government is concern about the chance of national secretive data being leak out through WikiLeaks to do possible demage to our country. That is why I think the kind of information being exposed on the web should be at a certain extent. Above all these electronic data will very beneficial to future historians. More records and documents will be easier to attain, so I assume most of them will probably be obese since they will just  sitting in front of the computer rather than going out to do research.

02/1/11

Tweeting for a Better Picture

That is absurd! Who would want to record every word any regular person uses to describe their mundane everyday duties. Historians might. Believe it or not, the Library of Congress’ plans to archive every public tweet might actually be of some use. Picture this, an earthquake had just hit New York and already it is in the news. One person tweets about it and like a domino effect millions of others start tweeting the same thing. Except this time tweeters include their reactions and a broken promise to help ease suffering in New York.

One way or another news travel fast and soon billions of people are talking about the tragedy in New York. Picture this scenario and imagine how recording billions and billions of tweets would help future historians draw a picture of one of the darkest times in New York. Although an earthquake may never hit New York, the scenario is very real and can be applied to any event, like the protest in Egypt today. Many U.S. citizens have an Egyptian heritage and a good number of them probably tweeted their opinions about the President who vows not to run for reelection. The tweets can be considered as a small part of a diary or chat room that allows others to read and respond. None the less, the tweets would be used as primary sources to describe the reactions opinions of a wide collection of people.

Certainly Wiki Leaks has become very controversial as it publicly posted national secrets that could potentially hurt our nation. For historians, these leaks may prove to be a good thing as they gain more insight on foreign policies and political affairs. However, these leaks are a sign that calls for greater national security to ensure the safety of our country.

02/1/11

Welcome to the Future of No Privacy!

In the past decade, people have grown to be more and more dependent on technology. Technology offers us many advantages. It allows us to connect with people around the world. In addition, technology has the answers to our questions, even the silliest ones. Most people cannot go a day withour their phones, checking their email, or logging onto Facebook. It is through our reliance on technology that future historians are able to have some insight as to who the people in the 2000 era are like. Tweets, Facebook statuses, and Tumblr posts document our lifestyles. Archiving tweets is a useful method in gathering information. The WikiLeaks dump can also provide valuable data for historians since it will give clues to the political affairs of America and foreign nations. Historians no longer have to dig or go through caves to find information because they can easily find it now.

However, there is a privacy issue. Should the government draw a line as to the type of information it is collecting? I personally do not think it is necessary to archive all the Tweets because some of it contain personal information. This practice of providing information for future historians does make me wonder if there is privacy anymore. I think is great that we found a way to let future historians know more about us but people should be able to have some privacy of their own that nobody can google.