54 replies to this topic

[Paul Reed]

The University of Oxford begin a project covering the 95th Anniversary of the Battle of Arras, starting tomorrow.

You can follow their work via their blog:

http://ww1centenary....-arras/arras95/

And also on Twitter @Arras95.

The project is appealing for guest bloggers so anyone with an interest in the battle should drop them a line.

[Dragon]

Thanks for drawing attention to this, Paul. I'm following @Arras95 as the future use of collaborative digital technology in historical studies has huge potential.

Gwyn

[Jim Smithson]

Thanks Paul.  I will certainly drop them a line.  


Jim

[Paul Reed]

Absolutely Gwyn.

Jim, I hoped you might.

[Dragon]

I wish I could contribute, but I really don't know enough about it (apart from Edward Thomas as everyone does). My photos of Vimy and Arras area are nearly 20 years old!

Gwyn

[Jim Smithson]

I am not the greatest on Twitter but I find what happened today interesting but not very helpful to those hoping to follow what occured 95 years ago.  Some of the information posted was incorrect but it does not seem possible to correct it on the page - or am I being thick.  I tried to correct the error on which unit took Feuchy (I did try to do it in the best journalistic manner - you know, new information coming in shows that.....) but that just appears on my page.

I have contacted Oxford though to help in any way I can with the rest of the project.  I'm just not convinced this Twitter experiment worked.
I am, however, remembering all who gave their lives or were hurt in some way on this day all those years ago   I was very disappointed in having to come away from Arras yesterday and thus miss all the events around the place today; duty called.

Jim

[Paul Reed]

Jim - unfortunately I have no input on their content but it's easy to comment on what they post simply by replying to the post you want to comment on. It will then have @Arras95 in the post which means all their followers will see what you post too.

I disagree with your assessment however - the whole thing has got people talking about Arras in a way that shames this site - for example - where some have preferred to discuss microwaving dentures rather than the Great War.

[Paul Reed]

Jim - just noticed your Tweets are protected which means no-one but those who follow you can see them. Sadly means any replies you do, you are largely only talking to yourself.

[Kate Lindsay]

Hi Jim,

I'm running the @Arras95 project at Oxford (thanks for posting about it Paul!).

We welcome any corrections to information we or others post, we envision there is a whole range of expertise that can be added to the event. But yes your tweets need to be public for us to see them. Tweet @arras95, and thanks for taking on the persona we are seeking to portray!

So far we have found the initiative to be successful and has really engaged online communities, but it is running until the 16th of May so we have a while to go yet. All tweets are being archived so we (and anyone else who wishes to) can look through them and analyse them in greater depth. Mediums like Twitter are how many people follow current affairs now, for instance the London Riots and the Arab Spring, we hope this to be an online event that will iron out inaccuracies and surface some high quality resources for people to find out more.

I'll be back to  my email tomorrow so I'll answer further queries then,

Best, Kate

[npm]

I thought it was a good trial run, given that most contributors were playing it by ear.  It would be good to have a post mortem at the end so we can make suggestions (ie I think separate hashtags for current commemorations versus historical postings in 'real-time' might be useful - eg #arras1917 vs #arras2012 )
Norrette
@2ndCMR

[Paul Reed]

Too many hashtags can make it confusing IMHO.

But am sure Kate and the project would welcome feedback in due course.

[Roger H]

Paul Reed, on 09 April 2012 - 08:45 PM, said:

I disagree with your assessment however - the whole thing has got people talking about Arras in a way that shames this site - for example - where some have preferred to discuss microwaving dentures rather than the Great War.

Paul

I think you are being a little unfair.  I for one have no idea about Twitter and how to use it, and I suspect that applies to quite a high proportion of GWF members.  There is nothing to be ashamed about in respect of this site.  The knowledge is tremendous and I have gained an awful lot of information about Arras - most indeed from Jim Smithson.  If people want to spend a few minutes on more light hearted matters, then why not?  I have not posted on the thread about dentures, but clearly you have had a peek!

Roger

[Jim Smithson]

I am a twit if not a twitter!

I have changed the setting and tried to make another contribution but I'm still not sure what I am doing.  Does Kate have to retweet my tweet (if that's not being rude!)?

Paul, I am all for more coverage of the battle, as you know.  I'm just not sure how big an audience this will get.  I see a number of people adding to the narrative but still far fewer than have being involved in many of the Arras threads on here.  It is an interesting learning episode for me though!

Going away for a few days recouperation now - back Friday.

Jim

[Jim Smithson]

It worked, (I am Boiry62188 for those following it), does that mean I am now officially a twit.

I'm going to put another one in now - this is addictive!  

Jim

[npm]

Jim Smithson, on 10 April 2012 - 09:48 AM, said:

It worked, (I am Boiry62188 for those following it), does that mean I am now officially a twit.

No you are a 'tweep'  
I found you Jim - you are @boiry62128

Norrette
@2ndCMR
Twitter will never replace GWF - I see it as a way of drawing in the outside world.

[Dragon]

Hi Jim

I'm afraid you've made a typo in your Twitter ID! You're @Boiry62128.

I'm @DrillHalls.

Hi Norette - I didn't realise you were @2ndCMR. Am now following!

Gwyn

Edit - I see we cross-posted about Jim's tweepery! My reply was on my screen while I viewed another tab.

[Dragon]

I like experiments and I'm sure that techniques will be revised and refined in the light of how this works out. All credit to the initiators for devising the project. I'm afraid there will always be people who disdain Twitter (and Facebook and LinkedIn and...) but personally I find that there's usually something intriguing every day and I've been pointed at so many references and so much expertise I wouldn't have come across in my own searches. I'm thinking not only of GW stuff but my own interest in early language history: there's some astonishing material out there now. I don't think any serious historian or other researcher can ignore the potential of digital and social media.

Something is puzzling me, though: is it possible to view the guest blogs from the project's home page? I'd assumed they would be posted interactively - have I got that wrong?

It's taken a while to get used to the present tense reporting... I'm still not sure... but I'm willing to be open-minded.

Gwyn.

[ulsterlad2]

Just signed up @15thBnCef. Just have to work out how to send a message now.

[npm]

Dragon, on 10 April 2012 - 10:34 AM, said:

Something is puzzling me, though: is it possible to view the guest blogs from the project's home page? I'd assumed they would be posted interactively - have I got that wrong?

Thanks Gwynn.  I was puzzled about the blogs too - couldn't see any.

[npm]

ulsterlad2, on 10 April 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

Just signed up @15thBnCef. Just have to work out how to send a message now.

Hi Robert - seems I can't find you until you send a message.

Norrette

[mandy hall]

I have just signed up for a twitter account and am now a follower of Arras 95.  All I have got to do now is work out how to use it.

Mandy

[ulsterlad2]

Hi Norrette.

I'm working on it . It's this 'new' technology. I might as well be Amish

[Roger H]

I have clicked on the link in the original post, and then gone on to the twitter site from a further link.  I am sorry to be a party pooper, but it all seems disjointed.  If I needed to know about Arras, I don't think it would be helpful at all.  Am I missing something, such as other posts from contributors because I don't have a twitter account?  But much to my astonishment I don't actually mind the tense!

Roger

[Dragon]

ulsterlad2, on 10 April 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

.I'm working on it . It's this 'new' technology. I might as well be Amish  

I found you. You'll soon get the hang of it.

[Paul Reed]

Roger/Jim,

Perhaps I am being a bit unfair but I suppose that the problem with OT it can all too quickly dominate. I've seen on some days nearly a third of daily postings on here are OT, and usually by the same people. Chacun son gout I suppose and of course Twitter is full of OT but you don't have to subscribe to it unless you want to. But that's another subject.

It is hard for those not familiar with Twitter to understand it at times, especially from a non-involved distance. It is all too easy - and many people on here have done - criticise it as peripheral but you only get what you put in; increasingly with history on Twitter (and not just military history) there are people posting very focussed content; i.e. they post on their subject matter, not about what their cat just ate or that they are going to the shops. Several WW1 historians are on there but they haven't all adhered to that and have seen it as a vehicle to host their daily thoughts about life, cricket, God etc. Fine, but they wonder why they don't have many followers; in these cases all too often Twitter can just be a means of talking to yourself. Wiser Tweeps post info, stories, links, photos of interest and ENGAGE people in the same way posts on here do; and doing this means you get a lot of followers as people on Twitter interested in history want focussed content. The difference with Twitter is that it reaches a much greater audience than here and the general public are more likely to follow someone on Twitter than register on this forum. The GWF may have thousands of members but only a small percentage of its members regularly post; a huge number are inactive. From my experience on Twitter the feedback and interaction is much greater; a recent example: I was filming in some Somme tunnels covered with graffiti. I Tweeted some images of the graffiti and within an hour we had a photo and life history of one of the men on the wall. That is an example of Twitter at its best, and as it grows I am sure that will develop even more.

The key to it is focussed content; go down any other avenue and it's just a mediocre chat room.

Here endeth the sermon, and of course it isn't for everyone.