SDS Twitter Archive

Have you considered that your Twitter account is potentially as historically important – and as worthy of archiving for posterity – as any paper-based documents or dusty, aged tomes?

Although undoubtedly the primary use of Twitter (and other social media platforms) is to provide a more effective means of connecting people and sharing information, these streams of data are also an important, historic timeline.

They document the day-to-day life and activities of your school, organisation or business, and contain within them a record of significant milestones and achievements; a repository of information that could be invaluable to future historians, and engaging with alumni.

SDS has developed a solution for "harvesting" all tweets from a Twitter account, preserving your data archive in a fully-searchable, bespoke online platform.

Why does your school or organisation need to archive your Twitter account?

School twitter accounts and tweets obviously represent the successes and significant events on an almost daily basis for the life of a school. These tweets are also your digital assets and future history which the school may look to utilise in twenty years’ time for alumni engagement and fundraising.

How would you feel if all this information was lost? If Twitter decided to shut down its platform and you were not longer able to access it? Are you making as much of a conscious effort to archive this digital information as you are to preserving your physical material?

Recently, Twitter has announced that it is to remove or achive accounts no longer in use in order to free up "handles" (user account names). People have feared losing access to accounts of relatives who had died, and there is reportedly still a risk that tweets on active accounts over a certain age may also be purged.

According to a report by the BBC: “Twitter's inactive-account policy says, users must log in at least every 30 days and accounts “may be permanently removed” if left dormant. But as recently as April 2023 the policy said users only needed to log in every six months....”. Given all of this uncertainty surrounding Twitter and its maverick owner, it would be seem rather prudent to take action now to secure your valuable digital information.

Musk's Meddling and Mutterings

Don't lose it... Let SDS create a Time Capsule of your Twitter activity!