History Online and Never Done

As technology changes, but not faster than the fads and media platforms, public historians' effort to connect with youth online is never done. So, Are public historians’ attempts to connect with youth online doomed to fail?

What I have found important is that youth like strange things. And they also want to discover their own paths. Many people generally feel that history could be more exciting. This is due to the perceived notion that history is only created from the mould of academia and is irrelevant today (something I disagree with). I adore reading fellow historians' work. However, I must remember how a typical child or teen is not reading a 50-page research paper for fun. I also recall how today's youth are absorbing more and more content online than the generations before them (myself included). Youth are interested in history. And public historians have to adapt to the fads and media platforms to stay relevant.

I get sucked into the details. I want to know why a singular art style radically changes over time. I dive into visually seeing the changes and looking at the economic, art theory and social changes. This means pouring over past historical research, documents, and theory as I form my thoughts (often writing a research paper). When I share information, I need to be able to speak about it, show artwork, present interviews of artists, have objects with texture that can be held, and create connections (that do not have misinformation). People learn differently, and youth want to make their own connections.

Youth create their own content online and want to avoid circling their parents' or grandparents' digital footprints. Much of what it means to be a youth today relates to individuality while associating with peers. Public historians wishing to connect with youth online must constantly change to suit what youth seek. And as a historian, I need to spread accurate information. Because youth are interested in history, it’s just that they are not typically on Twitter and Facebook. Today, they are using TicTok.

TikTok enables users to connect with the topic presented visually, audibly, and in writing (but only if the content creator includes subtitles). You can connect your own blog, a museum exhibit website, present images of artifacts, and links to articles within one TikTok post (lots of planning is involved, but it's worth it). This enables someone to choose to look further into what they have presented and make their own connections. And we have to remember as public historians that people generally like weird things and things that create an emotional response (be this a laugh or a tear). The history TicToks that do well and go viral causes an instant response in under 2 seconds.

A public historian's work to connect with youth online will never be done, largely due to constant change. I do not believe public historians will fail to connect with youth online. It is just that the nature of how we connect to youth has to be ever-evolving to be relevant. In a few years, youth will no longer use TikTok as they move on to the next platform, create new trends, and explore history.

I look forward to constant changes. The impact that one post will have in regards to one person reading transcripts for the 12th century about bread-making techniques related to the failing of wheat crops. Maybe this one person passes the knowledge onwards and shares the story of how they discovered how to make Rye bread from a TicTok post—connecting the past to the present and the present to the future.

Have you learned anything from a TicTok post?