Tips and Tools for Archiving Video and Social Media

Introduction

Grab it before it’s gone! With the ephemeral nature of platforms you may want to think about archiving your social media and videos now.

Social media

There are interesting tools and experiments being developed such as DocNow, a community-developed tool supporting the ethical collection, use, and preservation of social media content. Its aim is to collect, archive, and provide access to Twitter feeds chronicling historically significant current events, particularly around issues of social justice.

To read about how DocNow came about read Documenting the Now builds Social media archive.

Video

You may think that once you upload something to Youtube it’s there forever but it is not a safe archive. Witness, a not for profit, have great resources including videos and guides on what to consider when archiving video.

Activists’ Guide to Archiving Video by Witness

Further reading

• Meet the digital librarians saving social media posts to protect human rights, ABC, 30/8/2017
• Video as an advocacy tool: 3 how-to videos to improve your video and filming techniques
• Stories from the Live Streamers Documenting Modern-Day Social Justice Movements