Getting acquainted with social networks and apps: Snapchat and the rise of ephemeral communication

The traditional library image that comes to mind upon hearing this word is of vertical files filled with newspaper clippings, photos, brochures, flyers on a popular topic or event.

The modern image of ephemera, however, is now more nuanced and complex, as the increased creation of digital ephemera provides opportunities and challenges for libraries and archives.

There now need to be considerations for dealing with digital materials and artifacts that are short-lived and temporary. These digital ephemera are increasing every day, with a presence in the world that is anything but temporary.

The Library of Congress announced that it would be digitally archiving every public tweet since Twitter’s inception in March 2006 (Raymond, 2010). As of 2013, they had archived 170 billion tweets and were receiving nearly a half billion tweets a day (Allen, 2013). However, the magnitude of the project is being grappled with and currently the project appears to be in limbo (Scola, 2015).