Twitter’s increasing influence was highlighted this week when the US Library of Congress announced that they will archive every tweet posted publicly since the website was launched on March 21, 2006.

Fittingly, the Library of Congress made this announcement through its own Twitter account. “As stated by the agency, Library acquires ENTIRE Twitter archive. ALL tweets.” Thus, each person who has ever contributed to the 50 million tweets publicly tweeted will see their posts alongside books, audio and video recordings, maps, photos and other important documents like the Declaration of Independence.

This digital archive will include the first ever tweet from cofounder Jack Dorsey, as well as the tweets President Barack Obama posted on the day he was elected.

According to Alex MacGillivray, Twitter’s general counsel, the Library’s acquisition of entire Twitter archives shows that tweets are a significant part of history. He added that this project is not centered on the website, but is rather focused on the users who use the site to document significant, amazing events. President Obama even tweeted after he won the election, a fact that is something of grand importance.

In his Library of Congress blogpost, Matt Raymond said that the archive will be significant in helping others look at history and understand the way people felt at a particular time or event. It will also be a good guide in finding out how peoples’ views on certain issues, like the healthcare legislation, have changed over time.