GETTING VERIFIED ON X is a sham

 AI Overview

You aren't alone in feeling that way. Because the blue checkmark transitioned from an indicator of identity and public interest into a paid subscription, it no longer guarantees the account owner is authentic, trustworthy, or even who they claim to be.

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/beware-of-twitter-blue-fake-accounts/49199/

P.S.

🔓If you don't pay a Subscription FEE you get this notice:

This account has its posts protected. Only their followers can read them.

Islamophobia training cancelled over teachers’ ‘anti-Semitic’ posts

Academic speakers at event for psychotherapists compared Zionists to fascists and accused Israel of ‘genocide’ on social media

Posts allegedly shared by Prof Ghazala Mir, of Leeds University, made references to ‘Zionist paymasters’ Credit: Connor Bainbridge

Patrick Sawer

Senior News Reporter

24 May 2025 5:30pm BST

A training session for psychotherapists on tackling Islamophobia was cancelled after three academics leading the event were accused of posting anti-Semitic material on social media.

Messages posted or shared by the trainers on X described Israel as a Nazi state and referred to “a Zionism problem” in healthcare institutions.

The event, organised by the professional body for psychotherapists, had been intended to help therapists and wellbeing practitioners become aware of the impact of Islamophobia on mental health.

But the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) cancelled the session after complaints about the three trainers prompted an internal investigation into their social media activities.

The speakers at the May 15 event were to have been Ghazala Mir, a professor of health equity and inclusion at the University of Leeds; Dr Tarek Younis, senior lecturer in psychology at Middlesex University, and Prof Ahmed Hankir, a consultant psychiatrist and visiting professor at the University of Cardiff.

A post on X by Prof Mir suggests Israel is responsible for ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ Credit: x.com/ghazala_mir

I am sure this helped the Pope's cause...

I am sure this helped the Popes cause...🙄 pic.twitter.com/4hvCgy83Cd

— Mr.Stark (@MrStark_OG) December 15, 2024

Biden: Today, I Join Christians Worldwide in Observing Ash Wednesday. The Lenten Season is a Time...

Today, I Join Christians Worldwide in Observing Ash Wednesday. The Lenten Season is a Time ... - Latest Tweet by President Biden


The latest Tweet by President Biden states, 'Today, I join Christians worldwide in observing Ash Wednesday. The Lenten season is a time for reflection and discernment and an opportunity to recommit ourselves to God and to one another. May we continue to keep the faith and look with hopeful hearts towards Easter.'

Team Latestly Feb 22, 2023 10:18 PM IST

How the FBI, Big Tech double-teamed the first amendment in 'Twitter Files'

FBI release ‘remarkable statement’ on Elon Musk’s Twitter files

6.4 magnitude Cali earthquake, Musk’s Twitter polling rules | Today's Vi...

Chelsea Clinton Wishes The Church Of Satan A Happy New Year

12:21 AM 01/03/2018 | US
Dave Brooks | Deputy Editor


Chelsea Clinton gave a warm holiday greeting to an unusual group when she wished The Church of Satan a “Happy New Year” in a tweet Tuesday.

Clinton found herself in a Twitter conversation with The Church of Satan, model Chrissy Teigen, the restaurant Hooters and various assorted accounts after she tweeted encouragement to Teigen.

The popular model and best-selling cookbook author had tweeted her frustration Saturday over a verified Twitter account that used pictures of Teigen’s daughter in costumes to make wild accusations of pedophilia.

Clinton responded that she was sending Teigen and her daughter “a huge hug,” and Teigen sent her love back to Clinton and her family.

The exchange took a journey into the weird when an account called @roguehooters responded to the conversation the following day with tweets that resulted in Twitter suspending the account. A separate user tagged Hooters’ twitter account in a reply to bring @roguehooters’ tweets and handle to the restaurant’s attention.

Hooters responded Tuesday that the rogue account was not affiliated with the company. The tweet drew Teigen’s attention back to the conversation that had begun three days earlier in 2017.

Clinton replied that users tagged her and The Church of Satan’s twitter account in multiple threads in 2017. Clinton tagged The Church of Satan in her tweet, and the group responded.

That is when Clinton wished the most well-known Satanic organization in the U.S. a “Happy New Year.” The Church of Satan for its part responded in kind.

Source

Trump Blasts Twitter 'Shadow Banning' as 'Illegal,' Threatens Action

Pope tweets: 'Let's ban all weapons' Pontiff shares prescription for 'peace,' no more 'fear of war'

2 days ago

Pope Francis

Pope Francis

Pope Francis took to Twitter Sunday to offer his prescription for “peace”: “Ban all weapons.”

The head of the Roman Catholic Church tweeted: “Do we really want peace? Then let’s ban all weapons so we don’t have to live in fear of war.”


Do we really want peace? Then let’s ban all weapons so we don’t have to live in fear of war.



— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 29, 2018

The tweet left many people wondering: Did he mean nuclear weapons? Firearms? Anything that can be used as a weapon?

However, the pope never indicated exactly what specific type of weapons he’d like to see banned. His tweet merely stated “all weapons.”

The tweet was liked more than 90,000 times and retweeted at least 20,000 times. But many people criticized the idea as too general, overly idealistic and even hypocritical.

Twitter erup ts over Starbucks' new anti-racism campaign

Relaxnews (AFP)
1 hr ago



Starbucks has succeeded in raising the chatter about race relations, all right. But much of the dialogue happens to be redirected at the company’s bold, some say outrageous, campaign to heal America’s race-related wounds, one latte at a time.

Following the launch of their ‘Race Together’ initiative announced this week, Starbucks has found itself at the center of a Twitter storm, with tweeps weighing in on the controversial campaign which CEO Howard Schultz said was created to elevate the level of discourse, compassion and understanding among Americans at a time when racially-charged tensions are high.

On Wednesday, the campaign’s hashtag #RaceTogether was among the top trending topics on Twitter in the US -- mostly in the form of mockery and anger.

The idea behind the project, meant to be “catalytic” for the country? For baristas to engage customers in conversations about diversity and the issues dividing America, while making lattes and pouring coffees.

“Going to Starbucks tomorrow to order a flat white to explain how milk takes all the credit while black bean does all the work,” wrote one critic.

“Not sure what @Starbucks was thinking. I don't have time to explain 400 years of oppression to you & still make my train. #RaceTogether,” wrote another.

Likewise, consumers were quick to point out that the promotional photos for the campaign featured only white hands.

The campaign also inspired Quartz to do some number crunching of their own in a chart which revealed that Starbuck stores are densest in predominantly (70 to 75 percent) white neighborhoods.

Not all reaction to the campaign is negative, however. Some applauded the company for trying to start a nationwide dialogue.

“I think @Starbucks #RaceTogether is a brilliant campaign. With all of the divisiveness in this country... we need this dialog #TheView.”

“I don't think that #RaceTogether was for baristas to educate, but simply to get people talking. We would rather bash and ignore it! #shame.”

Follow the Twitter discussion at #RaceTogether.

Source

.

French interior minister meets with Google, Facebook, Twitter about online propaganda

Published February 20, 2015
Associated Press

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, right, gestures during a meeting with Google executives Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (The Associated Press)

SAN FRANCISCO – The French interior minister is meeting with representatives from Google, Facebook and Twitter to encourage them to join the European Union in its fight against propaganda disseminated online by terrorist groups.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is spending Friday in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He is calling for better coordination in the fight against online "terrorist propaganda," asking Internet firms to cooperate against extremism.

On Jan. 7, two gunmen killed 12 people and injured 11 more during an attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. A third gunman killed a policewoman Jan. 8 and then killed four more people a day later after taking hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris. Police killed the three gunmen in two separate shootouts Jan. 9.

Source

.

US Military Admits Spending Millions to Study Manipulation of Social Media

Posted on July 10, 2014 by WashingtonsBlog

Part of a Long-Term Effort to Spread Propaganda Through the Internet

The Guardian reports:


The activities of users of Twitter and other social media services were recorded and analysed as part of a major project funded by the US military, in a program that covers ground similar to Facebook’s controversial experiment into how to control emotions by manipulating news feeds.

Research funded directly or indirectly by the US Department of Defense’s military research department, known as Darpa, has involved users of some of the internet’s largest destinations, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Kickstarter, for studies of social connections and how messages spread.

***

Several of the DoD-funded studies went further than merely monitoring what users were communicating on their own, instead messaging unwitting participants in order to track and study how they responded.

***

The project list includes a study of how activists with the Occupy movement used Twitter as well as a range of research on tracking internet memes and some about understanding how influence behaviour (liking, following, retweeting) happens on a range of popular social media platforms like Pinterest, Twitter, Kickstarter, Digg and Reddit.

***

Unveiled in 2011, the SMISC [Social Media in Strategic Communication] program was regarded as a bid by the US military to become better at both detecting andconducting propaganda campaigns on social media.

“Through the program, Darpa seeks to develop tools to support the efforts of human operators to counter misinformation or deception campaigns with truthful information.” ["Truthful" as in government-approved? ]

***

Studies which received military funding channeled through IBM included one called “Modeling User Attitude toward Controversial Topics in Online Social Media”, which analysed Twitter users’ opinions on fracking.

***

“As another example, when anti-government messages are spread in social media, government would want to spread counter messages to balance that effort and hence identify people who are more likely to spread such counter messages based on their opinions.”

***

A study at Georgia Tech … concluded: “Breaking news stories and world events – for example, the Arab Spring – are heavily represented in social media, making them susceptible topics for influence attempts via deception.” [We can't tell if the researchers were pro or anti-deception; but given that the U.S. and Britain have used Twitter to intentionally spread falsehoods in other countries, we can take a wild guess.]

***

One of multiple studies looking into how to spread messages on the networks, titled “Who Will Retweet This? Automatically Identifying and Engaging Strangers on Twitter to Spread Information” did just this.

The researchers explained: “Since everyone is potentially an influencer on social media and is capable of spreading information, our work aims to identify and engage the right people at the right time on social media to help propagate information when needed.”

This story can only really be understood with a little context:

• We noted 6 years ago that the Pentagon is using artificial intelligence programs to try to predict how people will react to propaganda
• We’ve documented for 5 years that the Defense Department uses disinformation and disruption (andhere) on the web to discredit activists and manipulate public opinion, just like it smears traditional television and print reporters who question the government too acutely
• We’ve long reported that the government censors and manipulates social media. More proof here
• Edward Snowden revealed NSA documents showing that the U.S. government is attempting tocontrol, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and that spy agencies manipulate and disrupt web discussions to promote propaganda and discredit government critics

Postscript: We explained one aspect of this story – the importance of controlling which stories “go viral” – in February:

The government spends a great deal of manpower and money to monitor which stories, memes and social movements are developing the momentum to actually pose a threat to the status quo. For example, the Federal Reserve, Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies all monitor social media for stories critical of their agencies … or the government in general. Other governments – and private corporations – do the same thing.

Why?

Because a story gaining momentum ranks high on social media sites. So it has a high probability of bursting into popular awareness, destroying the secrecy which allows corruption, and becoming a real challenge to the powers-that-be.

“Social proof” is a related concept. Social proof is the well-known principle stating that people will believe something if most other people believe it. And see this. In other words, most people have a herd instinct, so if a story ranks highly, more people are likely to believe it and be influenced by it.

That is why vested interests go to great lengths – using computer power and human resources – to monitor social media momentum. If a story critical of one of these powerful entities is gaining momentum, they will go to great lengths to kill its momentum, and destroy the social proof which comes with alot of upvotes, likes or recommendations in social media.

They may choose to flood social media with comments supporting the entities, usingarmies of sock puppets, i.e. fake social media identities. See this, this, this, this and this.

Source
. 

U.S. created a Cuban Twitter to overthrow government - report

By Jose Pagliery @Jose_Pagliery April 3, 2014: 11:41 AM ET






Cuba's own Twitter service, ZunZuneo, was actually a secret U.S. plot to undermine the island's communist government, AP reports.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The U.S. government secretly created a Twitter-like social media service to subvert Cuba's communist government, according to an investigative report by the Associated Press.

The AP says U.S. government officials developed an app called ZunZuneo -- named after the chirping sound of a hummingbird -- to cause social unrest.

U.S. efforts to undermine the Castro regime in Havana are nothing new. There was a poison cigar, an exploding seashell, lethal pills and a fungus-ridden diving suit. But cooking up a tech startup with -- literally -- revolutionary intentions? That's something else.

To get around Cuba's iron grip control on technology and outside influence via the Internet, ZunZuneo was a low-tech version of Twitter (TWTR) fed by cell phone text messages, the AP reported.

Related story: Google tries to NSA-proof Gmail

The goal was obvious: recreate the sort of pro-democracy, Twitter-empowered protests that fueled the Arab Spring in 2011 and toppled corrupt governments in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere.

The project had up to 40,000 subscribers in 2011, but it disappeared by mid-2012 amid pressure by the Cuban government. The AP cited sensitive documents and several anonymous interviews with private contractors who signed on for the covert operation.

The most startling aspect of the revelations is that the entire project wasn't run by spies in the Central Intelligence Agency. Instead, it was masterminded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which distributes humanitarian aid.


The U.S. State Department did not immediately provide comment to CNNMoney.






ZunZuneo is only the latest in a long, combative history between the United States and Cuba. During his years in power, Fidel Castro often warned the Cuban people that the "Yankee imperialist invaders" were trying to subvert his government. There was 1961's Bay of Pigs, in which CIA-trained Cuban exiles attempted a heavily-armed beach invasion that was botched by their U.S. backers. A U.S. senate committee in 1975 revealed eight separate CIA attempts to assassinate Castro.

In recent decades, the U.S. government has adopted a more passive approach to Cuba, including the funding of Radio y Televisión Martí, a service that delivers pro-democracy discourse to the island from its base in Miami, Fla. The Cuban government has tried to jam those signals with limited success.

The launch of ZunZuneo was timed to coincide with more relaxed Cuban laws on technology and communication. Cubans couldn't legally buy a computer until 2007. They were prohibited from owning mobile phones until 2008. And access to the Web is scant, usually available at expensive Internet cafés.

Related story: Zuckerberg calls Obama to complain about NSA

ZunZuneo might have been a secret government project, but its existence comes as no surprise, said Jorge Duany, director of Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University in Miami. Yet he questions whether the attempt ever had a chance of success.

Authoritarian surveillance in Cuba is pervasive and hyperlocal -- every residential block has a government-appointed official who reports any questionable activities or anti-government sentiment.

"I wouldn't expect a sudden massive explosion of people going to the streets of people fighting for change or asking for a major regime change yet," he said.


First Published: April 3, 2014: 11:00 AM ET


Source
.

President Obama tweets that 'Tea Party extremists' caused government shutdown

See also
Government Topics
Government Shutdown
Barack Obama
TEA Party
Harry Reid
Nancy Pelosi


C-SPAN [Screenshot]





Renee NalTampa Conservative Examiner




October 3, 2013


On Thursday, President Obama tweeted that "Tea Party extremists" caused the government shutdown. The astonishing tweet is another symbol of the vitriol that has engulfed the Democratic party.

Is it any wonder that the Tea Party was singled out by the Internal Revenue Service, based on the level of hatred aimed at them by the Democrats in charge? A compilation of the recent remarks has been posted at Liberty Unyielding today, and include horrific name-calling by the highest levels of government. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and even President Obama's "spiritual advisor" have all resorted to pointing fingers at the Tea Party, using reckless and irresponsible language.


Tea Party extremists caused this #BoehnerShutdown. Tell @SpeakerBoehner to end it now: http://t.co/hLq6qOd2lM pic.twitter.com/WW4soKEibu

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 3, 2013

Despite the fear-mongering over the "government shutdown," it is actually more like a "slimdown" since the vast majority of federal employees are still working. Indeed, Josh Barro of Business Insider reported this week that "of about 4.1 million people who work for the federal government, about 80% will still be expected to show up for work."

It is clear that the loss has been greatly exaggerated for the purpose of politics. Today, many Democrats voted against funding for National Guard and Reserve Pay. It is likely that they want Americans to feel the burn as much as possible, as reported today by Joel Gehrke of the Washington Examiner who writes, "Senate Democrats blocked four resolutions to fund government programs..."

Justin Sink of The Hill wrote today that in criticizing a Republican who stood against the name-calling, Obama said,


“If you're being disrespected, its because of that attitude you've got...”

President Obama's tweet is shockingly unpresidential. It is as if the Democrats want the Tea Party conservatives, who believe in "limited government" as taught by the founding fathers, to be intimidated and silenced.
.
Source
.

Chick-fil-a president deletes gay marriage remark

1 hour ago same-sex marriage

.

Jim Fortier, left, and Mark Toomajian, kiss as they join about two dozen members of gay rights groups

View gallery

FILE - This Thursday, July 19, 2012 file photo shows a Chick-fil-A fast food restaurant in Atlanta. …

ATLANTA (AP) — The president of the fast-food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A has once again injected himself into the gay marriage debate, this time criticizing U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Dan Cathy posted a comment Wednesday on Twitter criticizing a pair of U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Those decisions will extend federal recognition to same-sex marriages in the states where they are legal, and will add California — the most populous state — to the 12 others in that category.

"Sad day for our nation; founding fathers would be ashamed of our gen. to abandon wisdom of the ages re: cornerstone of strong societies," Cathy wrote, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://bit.ly/12qjRKF ). The post was later deleted.

Chick-fil-A issued a statement acknowledging the post, saying Cathy was offering a personal comment.

"Dan recognizes his views do not necessarily represent the views of all Chick-fil-A customers, restaurant owners and employees, so he removed the tweet to eliminate any confusion," the company said.

Cathy's view on gay marriage has created controversy for the Atlanta-based company best known for its fried chicken sandwiches and closing on Sundays. Last year, Cathy told the Baptist Press that the company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of a family." In a later radio interview, he ratcheted up the rhetoric: "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.'"

Public officials in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago told the company it was no not welcome, though the firm said it set a one-day sales record when after its supporters — including many religious conservatives — held a "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" last year. Gay marriage supporters held a "Kiss In" at the restaurants to protest Cathy's views.

___

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

Source

.

Hacked AP Twitter: 2 Explosions in White House, Obama Injured...

Hacked AP Twitter: 2 Explosions in White House, Obama Injured, Has 1.9 Millions Followers

YouHotNews


Published on Apr 23, 2013


The Associated Press's Twitter feed was hacked on Tuesday with a fake message to its 1.9 million followers, "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured" - causing the financial markets to briefly plummet by over 140 points.
Shortly after the tweet was sent out, the AP informed its wire subscribers that its Twitter account "has been hacked. The tweet about an attack at the White House is false. We will advise more as soon as possible."

.

Has Twitter gone to the dark side with new censorship?

9:57 am January 28, 2012, by Christopher Seward

Twitter is going into the censorship business, and followers don’t like it.

The hugely popular social network, which unwittingly has helped fuel pro-democracy movements in the Middle East and elsewhere by allowing pretty much unfettered access to tweets, has decided to take down tweets that may break the law in one country but allow that same tweet to be seen in other countries. Previously, when a tweet came down it vanished from screens throughout the world.

Twitter says it’ll post a censorship notice whenever a tweet is taken down and it’ll also post on the website chillingeffects.org censorship notices that it gets from governments, companies and individuals.

Twitter defends the move as “a good thing for freedom of expression, transparency and accountability,” according to an Associated Press report.

The freedom-of-the-press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, however, says Twitter will help suppress voices of dissent.

From the AP:

“By finally choosing to align itself with the censors, Twitter is depriving cyberdissidents in repressive countries of a crucial tool for information and organization…Twitter’s position that freedom of expression is interpreted differently from country to country is unacceptable.”

Has Twitter gone to the dark side? Would you want your tweet removed just because Washington doesn’t particularly like it?

Source

.

Keep your personal stuff private

AP
Tempted to complain about your significant other on social media? Think twice.


Published Wednesday January 18, 2012


By Pamela E. Spencer
The Kansas City Star



"Guess she's better than me. ... plus my cat just died and I'm eating dinner alone, again."

You've seen these status messages before and you think one thing: "Ugh. Too much information."


Please remember, social media is not a diary.

We concede, the rise of social media in our lives in recent years has brought about plenty of good. You can congratulate distant friends on their life accomplishments and milestones in seconds. You can't knock that.

But social media has also brought about a swell of oversharing or what we like to call "bleeding on Twitter (or Facebook)". Unless you've spent the last five years avoiding the Internet, you know what we're saying.

You see the status messages every day, the passive-aggressive updates that no one is supposed to understand but everyone does to some degree because the three previous updates supply you with viable context clues.

Many of us are guilty of this to some degree. It's easy to forget that the thoughts you share on a social network are available to hundreds of your "friends" or followers to dissect. It's a lot easier to type our feelings than verbalize them.

But here's the best advice we can possibly give in relation to social networks and dating: Anytime you want to overshare in regard to your dating life, pretend that you have three "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" lifelines. It's best that you phone a friend. The 50/50 might get you out of trouble, but avoid it, too. Never ask the audience. Nothing good can come of it. And you know what? Your friends don't want to hear it. It's uncomfortable.

Here are five sample status updates you should not share on Facebook in relation to your relationships, romantic or otherwise:

1. "Just went from 'married' to 'single.' Guess I wasn't the best husband. Hope to learn from my mistakes."

What are you thinking about? This is not the type of thing you announce on social media. What are we supposed to say? Are we supposed to "like" this? What comments are you looking for? We hope you remember that all your friends/followers — including co-workers — will be gossiping about you immediately. Maybe even approaching you to see if you're OK. You're purposely begging for attention, aren't you?

2. "Not sure why we stopping being close. Missing you and crying."

Pathetic. If you really want to get your message across to one person (and you really shouldn't have to beg), just send a text or make a phone call.

3. "Cheaters never win. That's why I just smashed his flat screen."

Psycho! The first thing everyone will think: Sorry you got cheated on, but the fallout is between you and your significant other.

4. "Wife and I just had a fight about her communicating with her college boyfriend. I say it's not cool. Am I right?"

Discussing your relationship issues with your most trusted confidants is OK. But I doubt you have hundreds of confidants. If you're having issues and you need to vent, talk to a good friend. But keep the details away from the masses.

5. 'In a relationship.' 'Single.' 'In an open relationship.'

If you're changing you relationship status every other week, it says something about you. You're probably unstable, or at least that's what most of your Facebook friends think. Unless you're engaged, it would probably be best to just leave it off.

Private things should stay private. Get a journal, call a friend or go to therapy, but please stay away from the Internet. Your social network will thank you.


Source

.

Library of Congress to receive entire Twitter archive

Wednesday - 12/7/2011, 12:34am ET


Download


By Michael O'Connell
Web Editor
Federal News Radio


The Library of Congress and Twitter have signed an agreement that will see an archive of every public Tweet ever sent handed over to the library's repository of historical documents.

"We have an agreement with Twitter where they have a bunch of servers with their historic archive of tweets, everything that was sent out and declared to be public," said Bill Lefurgy, the digital initiatives program manager at the library's national digital information infrastructure and preservation program. The archives don't contain tweets that users have protected, but everything else — billions and billions of tweets — are there.

Lefurgy joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris Tuesday morning to talk about the library's digital mission.

Using new technical processes it has developed, Twitter is moving a large quantity of electronic data from one electronic source to another. "They've had to do some pretty nifty experimentation and invention to develop the tools and a process to be able to move all of that data over to us," Lefurgy said.

The Library of Congress has long been the repository of important, historical documents and the Twitter library, as a whole, is something historic in itself.

"We were excited to be involved with acquiring the Twitter archives because it's a unique record of our time," Lefurgy said. "It's also a unique way of communication. It's not so much that people are going to be interested in what you or I had for lunch, which some people like to say on Twitter."

Researchers will be able to look at the Twitter archive as a complete set of data, which they could then data-mine for interesting information.

"There have been studies involved with what are the moods of the public at various times of the day in reaction to certain kinds of news events," Lefurgy said. "There's all these interesting kinds of mixing and matching that can be done using the tweets as a big set of data."

One benefit for the Library of Congress in receiving this large data set is that it's been forced to stretch itself technologically.

"It's been difficult at times," Lefurgy said. "But we firmly believe that we have to do this kind of thing because we anticipate that we'll be bringing in large data sets again into the future. We don't know specifically what, but certainly there's no sign of data getting smaller or less complicated or less interesting."

The library's Twitter partnership comes amid a renewed push by the administration and the National Archives and Records Administration for federal agencies to better archive their own social media postings and emails as potential government records.

"We're basically in the same situation as the National Archives, only on a much larger scale," Lefurgy said. "We tend to have a much larger perspective in terms of what we collect."



Source