John Quicy Adams and Microblogging

We are not as clever as we thought we were. With the advent of Twitter, the concept of  "microblogging" has become very popular. In case you don't know what microblogging is Google defines it this way: "Microblogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts." Most kids now-a-days think that the concept of microblogging was invented by the creators of Twitter. And now modern technology will meet history when historians will post the short dairy entries of former president John Quincy Adams on Twitter. John Quincy Adams kept a daily diary where he summed up the events of this day with short "tweets" explaining everything from the days weather, books he read, notable events, and food he ate. And this all took place 200 years ago. Here are a couple examples of John Quincy Adams diary posts.

11/30/1809: Day without interruption. Idle. Captain Beckford dined with us. The Ladies continue both quite unwell.

8/7/1809: Fog. No Observation. Spoke a fishing Schooner from Grand Bank, bound to Plymouth. Read Chantreau’s travels.

Interesting, huh? I like the concept. The process of microblogging helps you to remember what you did while taking very little time to record. I've always been keen on keeping a diary, but I never seem to have enough time to do it. I was thinking that each diary entry needed to be a masterpiece and several pages long. President Adams showed me that this is not the case. I might start keeping a microblog diary. It can be useful, too. Read on.

After my Grandmother died, I remember looking at an old diary that she kept and finding lots of these types of microblog posts. My Grandma was a record keeper. She wrote everything down. It was interesting to go back and read things like "Chris came to visit. Had tuna casserole per Chris' request. Doesn't like where he lives."  It was like reliving my own history. In fact, I used to suffer from a terrible "cold/flu" every September-October. I would lose my voice and suffer from a stuffy nose and a horrible cough. I visited my Grandma one year with this condition and she noted that I had been suffering from this every year around this season. She knew this because she microblogged my sicknesses. I had no clue that it happened every year around the same time until she pointed it out. I was able to determine that perhaps these "colds" were just allergies since it happened around the same season. I looked into it and started taking allergy medication during that particular time of the year and I have been fine ever since. Microblogging can be useful.

I might start using this idea. It could be very useful for me, especially since I have occasional short-term memories issues. I might start a work-microblog where I record what I did during the course of the day. Or a personal microblog where I record what happened that particular day. I like it. Thanks John Quincy Adams!