Vladimir the Great Found Religion on Twitter

An interesting aspect among all cultures, since the dawn of human civilization, is people’s fascination with telling stories. Humans have long preserved their history, religion, folklore, fairytales and mythology in a narrative form. They fulfilled the need to share their stories in both the oral and written formats; in songs, poetry and carvings on walls; in theatrical performances, photography, paintings, comics, movies and documentaries. Recently, starting in 2010, Twitter has been used as yet another innovative medium for storytelling.

Other digital tools like email or blogging could never have provided the same experience of historical reenactment seen on Twitter, where major events and wars are brought to life in messages of 140-characters or less, aka tweets. You could read tweets by a Titanic eyewitness or a war reporter from WWII. Some Twitter accounts commemorating historical events schedule their tweets to be posted “in real time.” For example, one account (@RealTimeWWII ) explains that they’re “livetweeting the 2nd World War, as it happens on this date & time in 1940, & for 5 years to come.” Those verbal snapshots of important events from the past might motivate readers to learn more about the full version of the story and to conduct deeper research in history. To a degree, it’s educational and somewhat entertaining.

Such virtual mix-up of today’s modern tools with historical events, attempts to satisfy our curiosity about some what-if scenarios. What if news back then travelled as fast it does today? How or could an American Civil War reporter with a smartphone and a Twitter account change the course of the war? For better or worse, it could also be a sign that there’s a new generation that finds learning history to be more interesting through Twitter than thick history books, in doses of 140 characters. Additionally I personally believe that people enjoy the illusion that important figures like legendary Anarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott (1868 – 1912) is just a click away and ready to reply to your tweets any time and ready to answer your questions about his heroic polar expeditions.

Historical Re-enactment on TwitterArt by 0:Lives

Below is a Twitter exchange between Vladimir the Great (958-1015) and a boyar (Russian nobleman) that narrates a true story. A thousand years ago, the Russian prince sent an envoy of representatives to examine faiths of neighboring peoples in search of a monotheistic religion for himself. The account did not take place in that particular chronological order but all the reasons behind his approval or rejection of different religions are accurate. That story explains why Russia’s largest religion affiliation today is Orthodox Christianity.

Note: This is a factual account and its presentation here is not meant to disrespect or mock any faith or nationality.

 

 

 

 

Source: https://twitter.com/VladimirtheGr8/favorites

 

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