Your tweets are headed for the history books.
Collectively, all of the tweets issued throughout the social network’s existence amount to a vast array of data.
Now, at the behest of the microblogging giant, Twitter is making it possible for researchers to access these enormous reserves of information. Contained within this data, TechCrunch reports, are insights – “from flu trends to New Years celebrations” – that could be used for the edification or betterment of humankind.
Researchers can apply to get free access to Twitter’s public tweets and historical data through one of its official data resellers Gnip.
“What if the next generation of data scientists could have access to social data for their research? And what if we could help increase the quantity and quality of published research using social data?” asks Chris Moody, CEO of Gnip. “Exploring what might be possible has led to an exciting new collaboration between Twitter and Gnip.”
Moody says Twitter is now accepting Data Grant proposals for non-commercial, academic research. It should be noted, however, that the submission period will run through March 15th.
“Twitter will select a small number of recipients on April 15th,” Moody says. “Gnip will provide grantees with the data they need for their research projects, and Twitter engineers will be available for research support.”
What potential do you believe historical tweets hold for the future?