Facebook: A Source for Microhistory?

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss whether social networking services (SNSs), especially Facebook, are sources for microhistory. It can be shown that SNSs indeed form a valuable source for historical science. Due to the huge amount of data content in SNSs, the greatest problem the researcher faces is being overwhelmed with unmanageably large datasets. We propose to structure the datasets by applying informetrics and statistical methods as a means of producing a quantitative history. We do this by working with a single case study, »Kerpener und Ex-Kerpener«. This Facebook group addresses Kerpen (a small town in Germany) as well as its historical development. The aim of this moderated group is to preserve historical images and videos and to make them publicly accessible. We will informetrically analyze all (nearly 2,000) wall posts of the group during 2014. For each post, we will investigate its type (text, image, and video), category, topic, number of likes, shares, and comments as well as the date (month, day of week) and the author’s name. The chapter will conclude with recommendations for cultural heritage institutions to both collect and preserve important Facebook content.