I'm a big believer in primary documents. I've spent may happy hours in the Florida State Archives reading letters and journals that transported me back to the Civil War, made me feel like I knew the writers personally, despite the fact that the authors had been dead for over a century. I've often bemoaned the fact that the current generation has lost the art of crafting letters, and it is rare to hear of anyone scribbling the minutiae of life in a leather-bound journal.
But over the last two days I've been frequently checking Facebook, mainly to chuckle over the happy photos of graduation. It occurred to me this morning that we still have plenty of primary sources being generated. If anyone wanted to write a history of the Wofford Class of 2009, that author would have a wealth of material---the Bohemian, the Old Gold and Black, and the Wofford Newsroom. The Wofford blogs could be consulted as well. But Facebook might be the best source, the clearest window into what it meant to be a student at Wofford in the early 21st century. By perusing status reports, quizzes taken, and especially the myriad photo albums, a social historian would be able to make some educated guesses about what was important to young people (parties, good times with friends) and what wasn't (writing that Ancient World paper).
I've often said that I feel sorry for historians of the 21st century because they will have an overload of media to sort through, but will lack the beauty and eloquence of documents crafted in, for example, the 19th century. But perhaps these little blurbs and snapshots will suffice; perhaps they will also charm and delight the historians of the future.
Now I have a question for the librarians---how do I properly cite a Facebook status?
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