The paper is asking readers to say what they are thinking or doing on 12 May to create a 21st-century update of the Mass Observation archive housed at the University of Sussex.
The Mass Observation surveys, conducted throughout the UK from 1937 to 1949, with some additions made later in the 1950s and 1960s, were used to record the ordinary lives of Britons. Tomorrow will mark 73 years since the launch of the archive, which used hundreds of volunteers to keep diaries and previously paid investigators to anonymously record people's conversations or behaviour.
The Argus will use Twitter to collect contributions from its local readers, who should tag tweets for submission with #massobservation. The university is also calling for contributions, requesting diary entries of no more than 750 words. Unlike the newspaper's Twitter project, diary entries submitted to the university will become a part of the official archive.
"The Mass Observation archive is a valuable resource that since the 1970s has been housed at the University of Sussex. It gives a real insight into the way people lived, what they thought, what they wore - even what they ate for their breakfasts. I liked the idea of exploring a modern equivalent and Twitter seemed the obvious choice. Everyday, people are recording their thoughts publically and it offers an instant way to gauge the public mood," Nione Meakin, arts and entertainment reporter at the Argus, told Journalism.co.uk.
"We hope the Argus' many Twitter followers will get involved with our project on 12 May and help present a snapshot of Brighton life in 2012. We want them to tell us about any element of their day, be it a walk in Preston Park or a description of a new pair of shoes they've just bought. Something of national note may happen, or it may yield very personal, domestic Tweets - either way, we hope it will offer a fun and fascinating twist on the way history is recorded."
The project and the Argus' involvement will be complemented by an event at this month's Brighton Festival marking the archive's anniversary.
"As the Festival's regional media partner, we've always worked closely with them, and last year I helped them set up their own Twitter account, @brightfest, which now has almost 3,000 followers - and no surprise, it's a really lively, engaging account. The #brightfest tag we came up with has also proved really popular, both last year and this. This year, we were determined to do even more with Twitter, and the Mass Observation project was the obvious choice," Jo Wadsworth, web editor for the Argus, told Journalism.co.uk.
"The university is asking people to write their own diaries which will become part of the official archive, but we thought it would be fun to get people who couldn't write a full diary to participate by tweeting about life in Brighton on the same day. After all, that's what most Twitter users do anyway - this would just be a way of collating it in the name of art."
Wadsworth is hoping to use a combination of visualisation tools to present the contributions made on 12 May, adding that readers' updates will feature in print and online coverage of the project.
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