Government is cataloging tweets

[JasonW]

Epicenter Mind Our Tech Business


Library of Congress Archives Twitter History, While Google Searches It


http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/epicenter/2010/04/loc_f.jpg

While the short form musings of a generation chronicled by Twitter might seem ephemeral, the Library of Congress wants to save them for posterity — and Google wants to let you search them like an archive, the organizations announced Wednesday.

The unrelated announcements make it clear that at least some people think billions of short messages are worth archiving. In four years, the service turned simple, 140-character status updates on what people are doing into a global publishing phenomenon that tracks and creates the Zeitgeist.

Now, Twitter messages — from the musings of celebrities to citizens’ cataloging of their daily breakfasts to the pronouncements of politicians — will be archived permanently by the Library of Congress. The Twitter archive of all public tweets, starting from its inception in March 2006, will join such august collections such as letters from the Civil War and famous photographs from Great Depression-era works project.

The Library of Congress’s blogger Matt Raymond says there’s research gold to be found in the archive:

“I’m no Ph.D. but it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data. And I’m certain we’ll learn things that none of us now can even possibly conceive.”

The interest in the Library’s announcement has been overwhelming on its servers, according to Raymond. He told Wired.com by phone that this is the first time that the public’s response to an LOC press release has taken the site down since it released the infamous Starr report on President Clinton’s extra-marital dalliances.

For its part, Google thinks you shouldn’t have to wait to start doing sociological and anthropological research into the Twitter archive — so it’s turning on a feature that lets you choose a point in time and start to “replay” the short-form messages from that point on. Google’s search combines Twitter updates with those from MySpace, Facebook and its own fledgling micro-publishing service Buzz.

The search service (which you can try out here will roll out to English-based sites) in the coming days and is limited to tweets going back to February 11, 2010 in the initial release. But the company promises that “soon you’ll be able to go back as far as the very first tweet on March 21, 2006.”

The point?

“Tweets and other short-form updates create a history of commentary that can provide valuable insights into what’s happened and how people have reacted,” wrote Dylan Casey, Google’s product manager for real-time search. “Want to know how the news broke about health care legislation in Congress, what people were saying about Justice Paul Stevens’ retirement or what people were tweeting during your own marathon run? These are the kinds of things you can explore with the new updates mode.”

So be careful out there with your Tweets and Buzzes and status updates. Your great-great-great grandchildren will have to do “book” reports on them someday.

Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/04/loc-google-twitter?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Ind ex+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher#ixzz0lMzhaijA

[Dusty]

From what I heard yesterday, they want to monitor e-mails and other forms of communication on the PC as well. I'm sure they are already doing this. After all it is the gov't.

I think we all need to be very discriminative as to what we type on our PC's. You never know when that little tidbit of information may come back to bite you in the butt.

[Len]

They are not just doing it, but actively investing in technology and companies who do specialize in social media monitoring.

After all it is public, we are jus not yet used to the idea that a single person can have such a large public voice via social media.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/exclusive-us-spies-buy-stake-in-twitter-blog-monitoring-firm/

America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates — even check out your book reviews on Amazon.

[Leo G]

Time to start writing letters again. Or does the post office open them, photocopy them and then send them on their way?

All this saving of information under the guise of history is really bothersome. I don't think that everyone should have access to everything you have written at any time and retrieve it anywhere. I am starting to think that Google is a government in disguise.

And yes, this data will be used against you at some point in time. Count on it.

[neolitic]

They aren't very good at this stuff.
Really.
Too much stuff to sort through
by a loooong shot.

".....we think - about the National Security Agency in the media and we immediately go to the New York Times and the domestic spying program. That's not what this was. The indictment actually does not name the news organization or the reporter specifically, but we've confirmed that Siobhan Gorman, the intelligence correspondent who used to be at the Baltimore Sun and is now at the Wall Street Journal, it's about a series of stories that she wrote effectively showing that a very expensive, hundreds of millions of dollars plan to modernize the National Security Agency's system for collecting and sorting data was essentially a failure, that this was a massive waste of taxpayer dollars.

Ms. Gorman won a prestigious journalism award for this series of stories. She, through the Wall Street Journal, declined to comment today about this indictment. But, you know, as one person who I spoke with said, these awards for stories about the NSA are like a stick in the eye for the federal government, which says we're sick of seeing journalists rewarded for publishing leaks from our agency. ......"

That is the story for all of these
schemes.

[Century Man]

2009 was the first year that data transmission exceeded voice transmission.

[PA Woodbutcher]

They aren't very good at this stuff.
Really.
Too much stuff to sort through
by a loooong shot.

".....we think - about the National Security Agency in the media and we immediately go to the New York Times and the domestic spying program. That's not what this was. The indictment actually does not name the news organization or the reporter specifically, but we've confirmed that Siobhan Gorman, the intelligence correspondent who used to be at the Baltimore Sun and is now at the Wall Street Journal, it's about a series of stories that she wrote effectively showing that a very expensive, hundreds of millions of dollars plan to modernize the National Security Agency's system for collecting and sorting data was essentially a failure, that this was a massive waste of taxpayer dollars.

Ms. Gorman won a prestigious journalism award for this series of stories. She, through the Wall Street Journal, declined to comment today about this indictment. But, you know, as one person who I spoke with said, these awards for stories about the NSA are like a stick in the eye for the federal government, which says we're sick of seeing journalists rewarded for publishing leaks from our agency. ......"

That is the story for all of these
schemes.

They have no problem wasting taxpayer dollars. I'm quite sure that they are keying on certain words and or phrases. As a general rule I put nothing out there I wouldn't want someone else to see anyways.

[Winchester]

Facebook - The CIA conspiracy (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10456534)

[Leo G]

And that ladies and gentlemen give me enough reason not to join facebook or other social media. I am sure the data mining by our government will be used against you more than it will be used for you.

[Winchester]

And that ladies and gentlemen give me enough reason not to joint facebook or other social media. I am sure the data mining by our government will be used against you more than it will be used for you.

Like giving a statement to police. Most good lawyers will tell you to never say anything.
Whatever you say can and will be used against you. it can not and will not ever be used for you. Therefore why say anything? because no good can come of it.

6wXkI4t7nuc

I'm on facebook but I don't fill out any personal information other than my name and email address.

[PA Woodbutcher]

And that ladies and gentlemen give me enough reason not to joint facebook or other social media. I am sure the data mining by our government will be used against you more than it will be used for you.

And maybe the DEA is keying in on words like that:laugh3:

I have a facebook account as are Blue, Jason and a few others on here. I don't use it for business (but have had gotten a couple of smaller jobs from people I haven't seen in years). I originally joined to keep track of my kids (oops did I say keep track of?) I mean to communicate with them.

[JasonW]

And maybe the DEA is keying in on words like that:laugh3:

I have a facebook account as are Blue, Jason and a few others on here. I don't use it for business (but have had gotten a couple of smaller jobs from people I haven't seen in years). I originally joined to keep track of my kids (oops did I say keep track of?) I mean to communicate with them.

:laugh3: My 14 year old wanted to see the pictures of the tables we made in the shop on his facebook so he asked me to "friend" him.

2 weeks later I busted him making other friends at 1:30 in the morning on a school night! Needless to say, the Ipod gets left downstairs at bedtime now.:laugh3:

[PA Woodbutcher]

:laugh3: My 14 year old wanted to see the pictures of the tables we made in the shop on his facebook so he asked me to "friend" him.

2 weeks later I busted him making other friends at 1:30 in the morning on a school night! Needless to say, the Ipod gets left downstairs at bedtime now.:laugh3:

It does have it's uses doesn't it:laugh3:

[neolitic]

I think a lot of people are waaaaaay
underestimating the amount of dross
to be sorted for a tiny nugget.
And waaaaay over estimating the
government's capacity to do it.
Folks, the FBI couldn't even do
e-mail in 2001.

ADD:
"By the end of 2007, about 500,000 tweets per quarter were posted. By the end of 2008, 100 million tweets per quarter were posted. By the end of 2009, 2 billion tweets per quarter were posted. In the first quarter of 2010, 4 billion tweets per quarter were posted."

[Leo G]

Whether we are underestimating them or not. They are trying and they will only get better at it. The people on the list (FaceBook subscribers) will be looked at and others who are not on that list will not be looked at through that venue. I am sure that these forums and others are keyed into a watch program somehow. Construction forums might be low on the list, but I bet the EPA would have an interest right now.

[bconley]

:laugh3: My 14 year old wanted to see the pictures of the tables we made in the shop on his facebook so he asked me to "friend" him.

2 weeks later I busted him making other friends at 1:30 in the morning on a school night! Needless to say, the Ipod gets left downstairs at bedtime now.:laugh3:

My 12 year old daughter logged on from my phone, now I have her password and full access to her account.
She's been a good girl, (so far).

[neolitic]

Like I said, over estimating their
abilities.
They are always behind the tech curve.
Until the early 90s the IRS couldn't
even correlate the employer's and
employee's copies of the W-2s.
All of the employer's copies went straight
to the round file, but everyone always thought.....

[Len]

My 12 year old daughter logged on from my phone, now I have her password and full access to her account.
She's been a good girl, (so far).


The same social and family values still apply to social media. We just need to teach that to our kids the same as we teach them how to behave in public.

Most internet users over 30 still need to learn and be reminded to Teach safe internet practices the same as we teach don't talk to strangers, etc.

[bconley]

We have greater access to the media than at any time in history.
In the case of twitter they (the gov.) are more concerned with as Marshal McCluhan would say the "medium is the message"



"The medium is the message" tells us that noticing change in our societal or cultural ground conditions indicates the presence of a new message, that is, the effects of a new medium. With this early warning, we can set out to characterize and identify the new medium before it becomes obvious to everyone - a process that often takes years or even decades. And if we discover that the new medium brings along effects that might be detrimental to our society or culture, we have the opportunity to influence the development and evolution of the new innovation before the effects becomes pervasive. As McLuhan reminds us, "Control over change would seem to consist in moving not with it but ahead of it. Anticipation gives the power to deflect and control force." McLuhan

[afkama]

We have greater access to the media than at any time in history.
In the case of twitter they (the gov.) are more concerned with as Marshal McCluhan would say the "medium is the message"

McCluhan was a genius and way way ahead of his time.

It's too late for paranoia. For a long time now the government and just about anyone else has been able to get an unbelievable amount of information on you. Who you've been married to, who your relatives are, all the phone numbers you've ever had, where you've lived and what kind of neighborhood it was, past neighbors and associates, , whether you pay your taxes, your credit history, all your past employers, judgments, the cars you've owned, what social networks you belong to, your political affiliations, how much you donate to political candidates,whether you've failed a drug test in the past, insurance claims, what stocks you own, fines, lawsuits, etc etc.

There is no constitutional right to privacy and many private companies take full advantage of this. We've started doing background checks on our new hires and I'm a little unnerved by how much information is available to me.

Doesn't seem right.

[bconley]

McCluhan was a genius and way way ahead of his time.
When he wrote that book 1965 I believe, TV was in its infancy, he had no clue about the internet, and he was able to see, this

"In a culture like ours, long accustomed to splitting and dividing all things as a means of control, it is sometimes a bit of a shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves - result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.

[neolitic]

Corporation have more focus.
They scare me more than the Feds.
But as they have proved again and again,
there really isn't anyone at the helm
there either.
They are really good at hogging
the life boats though.

[afkama]

Corporation have more focus.
They scare me more than the Feds.


Seriously. This, in fact, is what you need to fear.
Because of our system of campaign financing and the free reign we allow lobbyists - the corporations have more control over the government than the government has over itself.

If we didn't learn anything from the past couple of years, we should have at least learned that.

I have lived in parts of the world that have been bought and paid for by multinationals.

It isn't pretty.

[bconley]

Corporation have more focus.
They scare me more than the Feds.
But as they have proved again and again,
there really isn't anyone at the helm
there either.
They are really good at hogging
the life boats though.

They are both concerned with social media, because it is a way to bring together the masses.
Look what happened with the Iranian elections, and that was a very small percentage of the population.

[neolitic]

When he wrote that book 1965 I believe, TV was in its infancy, he had no clue about the internet, and he was able to see, this

Understanding Media
My paper back, 1966.
Hardcover 1964.
Still on the self, right between 1984
and The Idol and the Octopus. http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu61/neoliticman/smilie/smilielaughing.gif

[afkama]

Understanding Media
My paper back, 1966.
Hardcover 1964.
Still on the self, right between 1984
and The Idol and the Octopus. http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu61/neoliticman/smilie/smilielaughing.gif

Heh Heh..
Mine's right next to "The Peter Principle"
Which is a good explanation for Rory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle

[neolitic]

That's there somewhere too.
These were nearer at hand
because my son read them
while he was at Ball State.

[kornerking]

So are our comments in the boardroom safe. Oh shit some of you are in trouble.