One of the biggest complaints about Twitter is that it is only a “present-tense” service. To pull up a previous conversation or post, I either have to have favorited it, or it has to have been in the previous 3200 Tweets of a user. Anything beyond that disappears forever, or so it would seem. Twitter has previously said they are still archiving these old Tweets, giving comfort to some that maybe their conversations are not gone forever. Today Twitter gave further evidence to that, adding “Get the full archive of a user’s tweets” to their V2 platform roadmap on their developer Wiki. (under “Users”)
While the V2 Roadmap is not set in stone, nor is it intended as an announcement platform for Twitter, it does suggest that some time in the near future we may see access to your previous Tweets open for public consumption. It also suggests that it is something Twitter is currently working on, or has plans to be worked on.
One of the reasons I joined Twitter was that it could be used as a journaling service. It was a public way I could journal the little tidbits of life that perhaps, while insignificant to most, would enlighten and entertain generations to come that would like to learn more about me and my life. It lost that value however when I hit my limit of 3200 (or so) Tweets and could no longer retrieve my past posts, thoughts, and conversations. My hope is that Twitter releases this soon and I can again utilize Twitter as an archival, as well as communications platform.
Have an old conversation you just wish would go away? Looks like getting it off your stream may not be permanent after-all. Twitter seems to be getting ready to bring back those zombies again. Now where’s Buffy when you need her?
