I, like everyone I can think of (even my own mother!), spend
time online. Often times it’s writing a status on Facebook, commenting on a new
photograph, adding a new pin on Pinterest, sending an e-mail, or even buying a
text book on Amazon. Every day I engage with the Internet and every day I am
leaving a mark on the World Wide Web that will follow me for the rest of my
life and beyond. It’s hard to remember that your every action and every word is
recorded for eternity online. Stuart Fox’s “Digital Age Presents New Problems
for Historians” reminded me of how public
the Internet is.
One hundred or even two hundred years from today, a
historian can look back on this blog post and study me—study this class! That
is, of course, if he or she could track it down.
I think Fox has made some shocking predictions about the
future of historians in this Digital Age. The way we approach subjects, such as
the War of 1812, today will be completely different that how historians in the
year 2212 look back on us in 2012. Historians will have to find a needle in a
haystack. There will be too much information
for historians exploring culture and society in 2012.
With these thousands—and even millions—of tweets, posts,
comments, photographs, e-mails, and more, historians could write histories
about people that today we would consider not worth remembering.
Everyone has a friend on Facebook that posts at least ten
different statuses a day. The friend I am thinking of alerts her friends when
she leaves the house, gets upset at a friend or stranger, makes food, feels
bored, or goes to sleep. If Fox is correct (and I believe he makes some
fascinating points) then people like this may be the subject of a social
history, or even a biography.
It’s worth mentioning that the Internet will change more
disciplines than just history. Sociology and psychology will also need to tap
into Facebook and other social medias. They could answer questions such as “What
percentage of the population in 2012 likes to vacuum?” by simply tapping into
Facebook’s vast “liking” system.
Researchers of the distant future will have such a vast
ocean of information that it is certain to be overwhelming.
I am trying really hard to look at the web as a social study instead of as a market to be advertised to. Even as I post this I keep thinking about how it will increase the web visibility of your blog and mine too! I guess that isn't a bad thing, since a large part of Digital History is to get more exposure and through that more funding. Maybe that will just have to be my contribution!
ReplyDeleteI think the awareness that we will/could be studied as historical subjects is a daunting thought. Someone writing their business ledger in the 18th century surely could not have dreamed how important that everyday document would become to historians. But sitting here, and knowing that if possible, these blogs will be read by future historians, adds a certain level of responsibility to what I am writing.
ReplyDeleteI agree that you do start to feel "responsible" for what you write and post and comment on the internet. But that's a positive thing, right? Not only for the benefit of historians years from now, but for ourselves.
Delete