The US Library of Congress has announced that it is to acquire the entire Twitter archive and preserve it for posterity.
That’s right – all public tweets dating back to March 2006 are to be included, which means that every cringemaking little burble of yours will be accessible for ever.
The move was announced on the Library’s official Twitter account this morning.
“Expect to see an emphasis on the scholarly and research implications of the acquisition,” says the Library’s Matt Raymond.
“I’m no PhD, but it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data. And I’m certain we’ll learn things that none of us now can even possibly conceive.”
Some of the tweets, he says, have historical value. They include the first ever tweet sent, from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, and President Obama’s victory tweet.
The Library is snaffling up digital data wherever possible. It’s now got more than 167TB of web-based information, including legal blogs, websites of candidates for national office, and websites of Members of Congress.