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While we might not associate social media records with archives,
they are important historical records.
They offer a unique insight into the real time
perspectives of account holders and document major events as they happen.
In May 2015, a large protest began against the Shell Arctic drilling rig,
which was docked in the Port of Seattle.
This event is captured in the social media records of the Seattle Municipal Archives,
and the protesters used the social media hashtag #SHellNo.
The Archives provides the City's historical social media records
searchable by post, available online to researchers.
On the left,
you can see all the related City accounts associated with the #SHellNo hash tag,
including the accounts of City Councilmember O'Brien and Sawant,
who participated along with hundreds of people that filled Elliot Bay in
kayaks, rafts, and small boats
protesting in what was termed “kayakactivism.”
In the first post result shown, you can see Councilmember Sawant
standing with Northwest tribes readying boats for the protest.
Councilmember O'Brien even captured his participation
in kayakactivism safety training practice with a video camera.
Of course, being social media, memes such as this one posted by Councilmember Sawant
are frequently used to get a message across.
And some people may be using a different standard of etiquette
than you might usually find in City records.
Also included are posts such as this one that have been retweeted by City accounts.
You will notice, although the Seattle PD account
did not post what the #SHellNo hash tag, our Archives captured
many others who mentioned the Seattle PD account along with the hashtag.
Keep in mind when searching by a hashtag, you are often only
getting the perspective of those associated with that hashtag.
Along with individual posters,
many environmental organizations were taking part in the conversation.
Here we see Councilmember O'Brien being towed in a Greenpeace
post retweeted by him.
While the protesters
did not ultimately prevent the oil rig from leaving Seattle,
Shell announced that they were abandoning their Arctic exploration
the following September after disappointing results.
Here we see Councilmember O'Brien
and Sawant celebrating with a high five.
To find these records and many others, you can search the City's
social media accounts from our website by going to www.seattle.gov/cityarchives
and searching collections, digital collections
and ArchiveSocial.
Or directly
to seattle.gov/archivesocial.com.
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