LIFE 100 YEARS AGO: GUIDELINES FOR PARTICIPANTS
By: Virginia Gow, First World War Centenary Programme Office, 5 July 2013.
Contact us about participating at [email protected]
Follow these guidelines to participate in Life 100 Years Ago. Note we don’t cover
the basics of using Twitter – but there is plenty of guidance out there on the Web.
How does participation work?
1. You let us know you’re interested in participating, and give us some
information about your source (i.e. the diary or the letter series, and the
person behind them).
2. We’ll let you know that we’re happy to connect your source up to the
shared Life 100 Years Ago timeline (in most cases we say yes – we like to
see some samples first so we can be sure we’re delivering a high quality
experience to our readers).
3. You set up a Twitter account for your source (see for example Leslie
Adkin’s diary, @adkin_diary). One Twitter account per individual / source
please. We suggest you protect your account at first.
4. We connect you up to a central “Group-Tweet” account
(@100yearsago_nz) and the WW100 website timeline. We’ll need your
account password for this.
5. On an agreed date, you start Tweeting quotes from the source on the
same day they were written (or refer to), 100 years later. These are also
streamed through @Life100YearsAgo – there are scheduling tools such
as Hootsuite available to help with this. We encourage you to share at
least a couple of weeks of Tweets with us before you start ‘live’ Tweeting,
so that we can give you feedback.
6. Once Tweeting, you select Tweets to be shared through the central
account (@100yearsago_nz) by adding a project-specific hash-tag, e.g.
#WW1913 (this will change every year). We prefer max one Tweet a day
from each source using the hash-tag (you can Tweet more from your
account without the hash-tag) – but talk to us, we may have more room.
7. These #WW1913 Tweets are displayed on the WW100 website, shared
on Facebook, available via RSS, kept in an archive, and fed through
partner websites such as Auckland Museum’s “Bulldog and the
Battlecruiser”.
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SETTING UP YOUR ACCOUNT
Handle format
Your "Twitter handle" is the username you have selected and the accompanying
URL, like so: http://twitter.com/adkin_diary1
Try to keep handles focused on the source (giving credit to the actual writer of
the diary), and making it clear that it is not ‘original’ material.
For example:
@adkin_diary
@milroy_diary
@malthus_letters
For this project, it helps if your Twitter handle is short – it will give you more
characters for your quotes.
NB: Usually it’s best not to use a _ in handles, because it makes it more difficult for people to use
your handle in composing Tweets and messaging you. But as this is primarily ‘broadcast’, in this
instance it’s useful for clarity.
Twitter names
Your Twitter name can be longer and more descriptive than your handle as it
does not impact how many words you can fit in a Tweet. There is a character
limit for handles (around 20 characters including spaces).
1
Derived from the Twitter glossary: From the Twitter glossary https://support.twitter.com/articles/166337the-twitter-glossary#
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Handle
@adkin_diary
@FPWelchdiaries
@Denton_diary
Twitter name
Leslie Adkin’s diary
F.P. Welch diaries
Bert Denton
Descriptions
Use the description to make it clear that this is the account of a historical figure.
Identify who is responsible for selecting the quotes (either their name, or their
Twitter handle), and where people can go to find more about the historical figure.
For example:
Extracts from the 100-year-old diaries (1913-1919) of George Leslie Adkin (1888-1964),
held in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa's archives
New Zealand · http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/theme.aspx?irn=3906
Or:
Extracts from the 100-year-old letters of John Graham Gow.
New Zealand http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/92718.detail
Photo
Find a photograph that relates to the source and makes it clear that this is a
‘historical’ source. In this example, an old photograph of the diarist.
This photo will also be used to represent your source on the WW100 website
(supply at 188 wide x 254 pixels).
http://ww100.govt.nz/life-100-years-ago/sources
Header
This is another good opportunity to reinforce to people that this is a historical
source, not a contemporary one. In this example, a page from the diary is used to
reinforce that it is from an original historical source.
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Change these in your “Profile” when you are logged in to Twitter.
Tweet length
Be careful to leave sufficient characters for your handle to display in the main
‘Life 100 Years Ago’ account (in the following example, 14 characters with
spaces).
You can vary this in your own account though – as you may choose to Tweet
more frequently per day than the quotes you feed through the main account.
This means that only the Tweet you choose to feed through the main account
needs to be shorter, so that you are attributed and awareness of your account
grows.
In general, your allowance is:
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Enough room for “via @your_handle” + Quote + Link to the full diary entry (if you
have one) + #WW1913 (this must be included in your Tweet if you want it to
appear on the shared timeline).
If in doubt, ask us to test it out for you – or type a quote into Twitter with “via
@your_handle” attached at the end and #WW1913 to make sure it fits.
Not leaving enough room will either remove your handle, or ‘mangle’ it, detracting
from the quality of the experience for readers. Shortness & pithiness also aids
readability & engagement.
Including URLs
Readability is enhanced when you don’t clutter your Tweet with long URL strings.
Use a shortening tool such as Ow.ly or Bit.ly or Google URL shortener. Links to
some shortening services are provided below.
http://ow.ly/url/shorten-url
https://bitly.com/
http://goo.gl/
http://tinyurl.com/
If your diary or source is not available online, you don’t need to include a link.
Hash tags
You are welcome to use your own hashtags in Tweets if you can fit them in, and
also the community participation hashtag.
For a Tweet from your feed to appear in the central account and on the shared
WW100 timeline you need to use the supplied project #.
This may be changed from time-to-time by the WW100 Programme. Currently
the format is WWYYYY e.g. #WW1913, #WW1914.
Choosing a good quote
Every Tweet is a story in itself.
Try to make sure the quote you select to share through the main account makes
sense on its own – i.e. that it doesn’t depend on having read previous messages
or the full entry to make sense.
While we are encouraging discovery of the full source, bear in mind that many
readers will just want to read what they see in Twitter. Make it worth their
attention!
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Remember that your quote will be read with a number of others – so look for
quotes that say something telling about life 100 years ago, are poignant or
salient. This doesn’t mean they all have to be significant – even a simple quote
like the following one resonates with contemporary readers:
The intent is not to be comprehensive and Tweet the whole diary through the
main account (though you can do this on your own stream if you choose).
It is to find ‘moments in time’ that help readers reflect on the past and compare
and contrast it with the present. Exercise good editorial judgement – it’s OK not
to Tweet on a particular day if it won’t have any meaning.
Be thoughtful about it. Will it have meaning for readers? If it were you, would you
Tweet it? Does it make sense on its own? You don’t need to include everything –
if the link is provided, the reader can see what happened next in the full source.
Style conventions
Note the following edits and conventions for enhancing readability of quotes.
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While it is important to be faithful to the diary, it is also OK to be a little editorial at
the Twitter level. We want people to engage with these people’s lives, not get
frustrated by them!
Original transcription
Made a drinking trough for
cattle….
Worked at CK-Swap
p[addock] fence all day.
Two thunder storms in
evening + heavy rain.
Rev. Jones preached his
farewell sermon – choir
attempted that beautiful
anthem “Oh, Radiant Morn”
– made a hash of it.
In evening Father, Clare + I
drove down [to] social in
Century Hall….
In evening went to
Professor Mill’s address to
farmers on how the Labour
party is to be their
benefactor.
Rode down to 8pm train to
meet Maud….she is sweet
– I do love her – she seems
indifferent lately it gives me
a cruel ache.
Edited Tweet
Explanation
This is a snippet from
a longer sentence. The
more characters you
use, the less space
you have. Either leave
it open (no end stop)
or just end stop it.
Worked at CK-Swap
[Square brackets] will
paddock fence all day.
make Tweets seem
very technical to
readers used to
natural sentences.
Two thunder storms in
Again, the + is jarring
evening & heavy rain.
to readers expecting
conventional
typographical usage.
Church in evening... choir
Selected a different
attempted that beautiful
part of the diary entry
anthem “Oh, Radiant Morn”.
to make it more self
Made a hash of it.
contained. ‘…’ used to
indicate text is
missing.
In evening Father, Clare
As above. No +, [to] or
& I drove down to social
elipses…
in Century Hall
(This could be end
stopped instead of left
open).
went to Professor Mill’s
Shortened as too long.
address to farmers on
Use lower case start to
how the Labour party is
indicate mid-sentence.
to be their benefactor.
(Or you can use
capitals, if you’re OK
with this)
Rode down to 8 pm train to
Broke the quote into
meet Maud.
two Tweets. The first is
self contained. The
She is sweet & I do love her second has an air of
she seems indifferent lately it
mystery that makes
gives me a cruel ache.
you want to click to
#ttrttpt
read more. Who is
she?
Made a drinking trough for
cattle
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…after church asked Maud
to let me drive her home +
got her
consent….discovered why
she seemed so indifferent
last night….
After church asked Maud to
let me drive her home... we
exchanged kisses.
…cycled to Levin to see the
sailors of the HMS “New
Zealand” who are coming
up to be entertained.
cycled to Levin to see the
sailors of the HMS “new
Zealand” who are coming
up to be entertained
After church asked Maud to
let me drive her home...
discovered why she seemed
so indifferent.
A couple of options to
shorten the length. It’s
implied that Maud has
given her consent –
and the detail is in the
transcript.
See above re
sentences that start
halfway through – no
ellipses.
Too good an entry to fit in one Tweet?
Some days will be full of interesting material and you will want to fit it all in your
post, but be frustrated by the character limit.
One option is just to find the most intriguing piece, and include a link to the full
source.
Another is to use the ‘#ttrttpt’ (this Tweet relates to the previous Tweet) hash tag.
You might choose not to connect all of these up to the main account – though if
they are in quick succession, this should be fine. Just be aware that others need
air-time as well, and we don’t want to lose followers through ‘over Tweeting’.
Remember you can also post multiple Tweets in your own stream; we just need
to manage how many come through the central one.
Photographs
Sometimes diarists refer to photographs in their entries, or will have photographs
that can usefully illustrate their post.
Attaching this imagery to the post can significantly enhance the user experience
and richness of the overall story we are telling. Please use these if you can.
Note, however, that you should limit this to photographs that are clearly free of
Intellectual Property rights. Photographs taken in New Zealand before 1 January
1944 are likely to be clear of copyright: http://www.digitalnz.org/make-itdigital/enabling-use-re-use/copyright-status-flowcharts
Familiarise yourself with Twitter’s terms of use, especially “Your rights”:
https://twitter.com/tos - note that you are sublicensing that copy of the
photograph to Twitter, who can use it for any purpose.
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This doesn’t mean you are ‘giving away’ the rights to the other copies of the
photograph you hold.
Formulating the Tweet
Formatting may change as we review the material. But for now the format is:
Quote. Optional URL to source online. Hashtag.
In the shared account, this will appear as:
Quote. Optional URL to source online. Hashtag. (via @Your_account_handle).
We don’t use quote marks around quotes (including because these can use
precious characters).
Scheduling
The quote you Tweet needs to match up with the day the post is about (or, in the
case of published material, the public read it).
I.e. if it was written on (or about) 23 January 1914, post it on 23 January 2014. If
it was public/published on 23 January 1914, post it on 23 January 2014.2
If a given day just doesn’t seem to have any ‘Tweetable moments’ then it is fine
not to post anything at all. Be aware, however, that even the mundane can still
be compelling and interesting. It doesn’t all have to be ‘significant’ or
‘newsworthy’ moments; but do consider the user experience in terms of the
quote’s impact.
Linking to full sources
It is ideal – but not essential – to use this project as an opportunity to connect
people to full sources online where they can delve deeper and continue to read
(or even help you out with a transcription project if you are crowd-sourcing
something like this).
Best case scenario: digitise diaries in a way that allows you to link users to a
single page from the diary; with the ability for them to easily navigate to the full
set of entries.
Some information about best practices for URLs: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/11best-practices-for-urls
2
This is different for our newspaper stream, which is Tweeted on the day the public read the paper.
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If you need help getting your content online, Digital New Zealand may be able to
help. Http://www.digitalnz.org
Finally: Submitting a biography
We will profile contributors to the project on the official First World War
Centenary programme website.
The biography should be around 130 words. The photograph supplied should be
188 pixels wide x 254 pixels high.
Send blurbs and photographs to [email protected].
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