The Library of Congress has announced that it will compile all tweets about President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor throughout the confirmation process. The Library made this project public via Twitter this morning.
The LOC tweeted:
LOC will capture tweets on #sotomayor for its web archives on the Sotomayor nomination.
Twitter launched as a small microblogging application three years ago but it has acquired a new level of prominence this year. Many lawmakers and commentators have started to use Twitter in order to communicate directly with their constituencies or audiences. Despite its meteoric rise in importance, some critics say that Twitter is only a fleeting trend and that its users represent a smaller group than is generally perceived.
The Library of Congress’ effort to archive tweets about Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation may allay concerns that Twitter’s contents will become forgotten over time. It remains to be seen if the LOC will continue to preserve posts on other important political events such as the Iranian uprising and the upcoming midterm elections.