Why @HistoryInPics is Bad for History and Bad for Twitter
If you use Twitter, you’ve probably seen retweets from an account like @HistoryInPics or @HistoricalPics pop up in your stream. You may not remember which account it was, exactly—there are a bunch of them, and they’re difficult to tell apart. I count 14 Twitter accounts currently using a variant of the @HistoryPics handle: @HistoricalPics, @HistoryInPix, @History_Pics, and so on. Four of the 14 claim to be “THE ORIGINAL,” and most of them reuse each other’s material liberally....
As the writer of Slate’s Vault blog, I post a historical document once a day, running the gamut from the serious (the Montgomery Improvement Association’s powerful advice for successful bus boycotters about to ride integrated busses) to the bizarre (a strange 19th-century millionaire’s pork map of the United States). My goal is to surface compelling, beautiful, or funny items that reward a second look, and then stay on your mind, stoking your curiosity. About eight times a day, through @SlateVault, I tweet another (hopefully) interesting image, a lead on a newly digitized archive, or a link to a good historical read.
I’ve been doing this since November 2012, while continuing to produce academic work (I have a Ph.D. in American studies). Having spent a little over a year switching between writing history for the academic world and for the Web, I’m keenly aware of how hard it is to talk about history online. It can be difficult to hit the sweet spot between click-worthy intrigue and historical interest, and it’s tempting to post only things I know have viral potential (Kurt Vonnegut tends to be a big hit, as does a good map). I also harbor some sympathy for the difficulties of ascertaining who holds copyright for digital historical documents, which can be a difficult and time-consuming process.
These caveats aside, Werner’s cry—“These accounts piss me off because they undermine an enterprise I value”—resonates deeply with me....