Tom Caswell @tom4camMarion Jensen @marionjensen
Justin Ball @jbasdfDr. Joel Duffin @oxtralite
Rob Barton @robmba@twhistory
Creating Collaborative Historical Narratives with Social Media
Funded by the Talis Incubator for Open Education
What is Twitter?Free status update tool.What's happening? in 140 characters.Messages are called tweets.19% of American internet users are on
Twitter.
The Big IdeaAttending conference remotelyHundreds of people in the Twitter channelIdea: Real-time, virtual, historical
reenactments using Twitter
Objectives1. Experience history
from multiple perspectives
2. Gain a sense for the actual timing of events
3. Appreciate subjective nature of historical narratives
When History goes viralGettysburg reenactmentHigh School teacher followedUsed in Cold War History course
Boo-yah!
Process
1. Establish community & communication
Process2. Research & write tweets
Process3. Combine all
characters4. Check timing
& sequences5. Schedule
tweets6. Serve and
enjoy
Recent ReenactmentsGettysburg1847 Pioneer TrekCuban Missile CrisisTweet The ExodusTitanic concept piece
Future Reenactment IdeasLewis & Clark expeditionApollo Missions 40th anniversariesTitanic 100th anniversary
Beta.twhistory.org FeaturesSingle-button Follow Character ManagementTimed TweetsSpreadsheet Upload
Future DirectionsFlexible rebroadcasting: compressible
timelinesUse geolocation data to create
reenactment tweet mapsAutomate initial localization with Google
Translate (crowdsource it from there)
Top 10 Things I Learned from TwHistory1. There was a girl who really would stand at the bow of the Titanic
after her nightly escapades.2. Fort Bridger was just a couple small log cabins.3. No one really won the Battle of Gettysburg.4. Never leave the percussion cap on the hammer of your rifle.5. If you don't burn towns as you march through them, the ladies treat
you nicely.6. Don't tie up the president’ horse within rope's distance of a sinkhole.7. If you're considering deserting the army, be prepared to dig your own
grave and then be shot in it.8. Only 3 of the 4 smokestacks on the Titanic were real; the last one
was decoration.9. The best time to raid the enemy's camp is just when they're sitting
down to dinner.10. History can be fun and interesting.
Thank you
Tom Caswell @tom4camMarion Jensen @marionjensen
Justin Ball @jbasdfDr. Joel Duffin @oxtralite
Rob Barton @robmba@twhistory
Please visit us athttp://beta.twhistory.org