The result of this project is a tool set and database that is designed and maintained with activists, archivists, and academics in mind. While the original scope of the project aimed to help preserve sets of tweets from the Black Lives Matter movement, the tools created were used to document tweets from all types of groups, movements, and topics. All of this is done through intentional design that keeps ethics in mind.
Unfortunately, in 2023 after Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, API changes occurred that barred the tools created by “Documenting the Now” from accessing Tweet IDs. There was no sustainable way to keep the tools running for the same general audience they once had been available too as there was also now a pay wall.
However, the team at SHiFT Collective, the owners of “Documenting the Now”, are still hard at work with other projects to help keep diverse online stories archived through projects like “Archiving the Black Web“.
While “Documenting the Now” and it’s tools may now be defunct, it is undeniable that the work of the project team resulted in a pertinent example of what it looks like to gracefully balance ethics and data collection when it comes to uplifting diverse communities.