HISTORY AS “LEISURE PURSUIT”: THE APPEARANCE OF HISTORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE ERODED OF PROFESSIONAL HISTORIANS IN THE DIGITAL ERA
Keywords:
history, historian, historiography, social media, digital eraAbstract
Shifts in technology, theory, and access make the past possible for anyone to reach. Those without training as historians can and do access “the past” often ingeniously without being too attached to “historian skills and historical methods.” Technological improvements, funding changes, institutional changes and political intervention have all impacted sales and past packaging and presentation. Professional historians are no longer the only parties with the authority to convey the "true" past to the public. In this way, the boundaries between professional historians and other parties who access the past become increasingly blurred. Increasingly open access to various social media platforms means that everyone has the same right to reach out to the past and retell it. This article explores the presentation of history in mediums that professional historians generally ignore. Placing history as part of popular culture leads to the understanding that the way the public experiences history has changed. Therefore, how we sell, present, and convey history has changed. While professional historians are busy with themselves and with various theoretical debates, the public seems to be starting to regard history as a leisure pursuit. The public seems to be more interested in history presented more interactively and lightly by famous historians via social media rather than complicated history in history books written thoughtfully by professional historians.
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