Library to reduce collecting of tweets

After archiving every public message posted on Twitter since the social media platform was introduced in March 2006, the Library of Congress will soon scale back its approach to collecting them.

Starting Monday, the library will apply the same selective discretion to tweets that it uses for other documents, collecting and archiving material around themes or events of consequence.

The move, announced in a Tuesday blog post, brings to an end an ambitious effort which began in 2010 when Twitter donated its full archive of public tweets to the library.

“The Twitter Archive may prove to be one of this generation’s most significant legacies,” the library said in a document detailing the decision. “Future generations will learn much about this rich period in our history, the information flows, and social and political forces that help define the current generation.”

Twitter has come a long way since one of its founders, Jack Dorsey, posted the first tweet on March 21, 2006. Today, many organizations, celebrities and politicians, including President Donald Trump, view it as a crucial tool for reaching their audiences.

The library’s decision, the result of a continuing evaluation of its practices, was driven by a number of factors, from the difficulty of maintaining the collection to the waning need for a comprehensive archive, the library said.