It’s nearly time for our national diary day! Every 12th May we ask people to write down what they got up to. This year we’re also really interested in experiences of nature and wellbeing, as well as what else you get up to on the day! #diary #journal #nature #skystorians #write #Archive

In her new article Tracey Loughran uses MO to see how five women narrate their experiences fertility problems prior to development of IVF. It's a fascinating read! Find it here: academic.oup.com/shm/advance-...

Yesterday we sent out our latest directive! For Spring 2026 we have a combination of collaborative topics and in-house questions. Part one is a collaboration with Dr Ellen Pilsworth from @uniofreading.bsky.social, and is on 'Seeking Asylum', part of a 4-year research project, 'Nation of Refuge'.

We're excited for this online talk! We'll be hearing from Ben Highmore (Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, @sussex.ac.uk), Phyllis MacFarlane (Head of Content, @amsruk.bsky.social) & Stella Moss (Lecturer in Modern British History, @royalholloway.bsky.social ). Book here: tinyurl.com/37sdd74x

New paper: Mass Observing British Politics On what Mass Observation might contribute to political studies (and what political studies might contribute to Mass Observation). With @jmoss88.bsky.social and Alex Hill. Also paging @massobsarchive.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The banana, the foodiest fruit of all! Unzipp one today!

Something new has appeared on our AM Digital resource 🧐Instead of stopping at 2009, documents are now available up to 2019! 98 boxes of material went away to be digitised and are now available through the AM digital resource.

Thanks to @massobsarchive.bsky.social for hosting our University of Brighton students yesterday for LGBTQ History Month! We heard abt their growing archive of everyday queer life in the UK, and saw loads of incredible historical materials 🏳️‍🌈 Thanks also to @ctsgbrighton.bsky.social for organising!

Assuming we're all bringing this same energy to our Monday mornings?

A fantastic post from the Museum fo English Rural Life about one of our early writers. We're so pleased to see E.M. Barraud getting this recognition! Do give the article a read!

A huge thank you to everyone who has already sent us their diary of what they got up to on the 12th February for #LGBTplusHM #lgbthm26! If you haven't sent us your diary and would like to, remember there's no deadline to send it to us! Just submit it online or pop it in the post whenever you can 😊

Today is the day! Record your day and be part of recording queer lives and histories in the UK. Sketch, type, write, or photograph your day. Even if you think your day isn't very interesting we'd still love to have it in our collection! All types of days, boring or brilliant are welcome #LGBTplusHM

We're looking to capture experiences of what it means to be queer in the UK today! To do that we're collecting day diaries for 12th February. It doesn't matter what you get up to, or how you record it, we'd love to have it!🧵 (1/4) #LGBTplusHM #lgbthm26

Bolton: The Happiest Town on Earth? In the 1930s MO asked he people of Bolton "What is happiness to you and yours?". In this episode researchers knock on the doors of those who live in the same spot as the original correspondents, hearing their reflections on happiness www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

We're thinking about a set up like this and a calippo ice lolly on blue monday... (Image from our the garden and gardening directive, 1998)

We received these words of encouragement, on the back of an envelope, from one of our writers today! They might have meant it for the postal service, but we like to think it was for us 😏

In 1982, inspired by the work of MO the National Lesbian and Gay survey began, it sought to capture what everyday life was like for queer people living in the UK. For our latest open call we're continuing the work of NLGS and asking what does it mean to be queer every day? #lgbtqhistory

Did you know we have a newsletter where you can keep up to date with all the latest MO news? We also share summaries and trends we've seen in the latest directive responses, as well as our latest events and opportunities! You can sign up here: subscribe.emailblaster.cloud/MjEyMjQ/122....

Prior to the winter break the MO team tallied up our end of year stats! 🧮 In 2025 we sent out 9 different directive themes, covering everything from feelings about your hands, to reflections on Covid five years on to how you feel the temperature 🌡️

We're excited to say that this event is now sold out! But we still have lots of exciting in-person events coming up throughout the year. View them all here: massobs.org.uk/engagement/e...

We’re just finishing up cataloguing the amazing Ali Jacques collection. Ali was a woman of many talents and the collection features her fashion illustrations, acting audition tapes, sketches and drafts of scripts and novels.

We've just sent our our most recent directive! Topics include feeling the temperature, sexuality and secrecy and Christmas greeting cards and we’re really pleased to be partnering with academics from @northumbriauni.bsky.social, @liverpooluni.bsky.social and @manchester.ac.uk on these!

A big thank you to everyone that came and spoke to us at @ihr.bsky.social yesterday! We loved chatting to everyone about all the different ways MO materials could be used in all manner of research!

Well, have you? 🗃️

For those that weren't able to make our webinar with @patcollier.bsky.social and Jim Connolly, you can now catch up on YouTube! Learn more about the Everyday Life in Middletown archive as well as how the writers in archive write about comprehend crisis www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... 🗃

Come and spend Christmas with Nella Last, our most famous diarist! We'll be reading diary extracts from Nella, as well as some of our other early MO diarists. Wednesday 17th December, 2-4 at The Keep. Tickets are free, but limited, book yours here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/christmas-...

Do we trust politicians less now than in previous years and decades? @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social and @drjennings.bsky.social make use of MO materials to consider the extent to which we trust politicians and the factors which influence our opinions. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

Are joining us for our event today? Make sure you've signed up to receive your link to the webinar!

In autumn 2000, fuel protests brought Britain to a standstill - just as record floods swept the country. David Tomory and Timothy Cooper explore what ordinary people made of oil, climate, and crisis at the dawn of the new millennium.

So pleased to be presenting our work to the excellent scholars at and around Mass Observation & with Ben Highmore, whom we so admire, hosting. bsky.app/profile/mass...

Our next event, 'Everyday Life and the Crisis Ordinary in Middletown, U.S.A.' is now open for booking! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/everyday-l...

We've been having a look through some of the photographs from when the papers from Mass Observation arrived at @sussex.ac.uk! We won't lie, it makes very glad we're working with the materials now that they're boxed up and catalogued...

We’re delighted to publish a new Policy Paper today by Jonathan Moss & @emilyrobinson.bsky.social. They suggest that Mass Observation @massobsarchive.bsky.social - founded in the 1930s - can help us understand the reasons behind contemporary voter apathy. historyandpolicy.org/policy-paper...

The Mass-Observation Critical Series documents and archives the everyday lives, thoughts and attitudes of ordinary Britons. Found out more https://bit.ly/4lPM60w

This next week! Join Professor Lucy Noakes for her talk 'War and Peace: Mass Observers and the end of the war in Europe, May 1945' & Yves Fradier, Director of Survey and Methods (@veriangroup.com) for his talk 'Living through war: Insights from displaced Ukrainians'. 🗃️

The third part of our current directive is all about kitchens 👨‍🍳 We enjoyed this anecdote about the dangers of open plan kitchen/dining!

Event Announcement! 'Documenting disruption: Everyday life during times of war' We're collaborating with Verian to bring you an online webinar to look at the ways that everyday experiences of war are recorded. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1602048774...

The thing with MO is, sometimes you read what a writer has sent and it all makes sense... but other times, you just have to try and figure out...

These documents are from our topic collection 'Dogs in Wartime'. Suzanne, our Engagement Manager, often uses these materials with school groups as a way to demonstrate both the surprising materials we have in our care, but also how war impacts all areas of life. 🗃️

If you haven't heard Jessica on Radio 4 yet, now's your chance!

What did you dream last night? Were you in a sports hall? Were the colours and textures of paper merging with words to create a complete experience of reading? And did the strange lady in the cupboard slowly turn into very small snakes? No? Reference: SxMOA2/1/73/2/1/124

If you tune in to Radio 4 next week you'll get to hear our archivist Jessica being interviewed about all things mantelpieces! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... #history #socialhistory

In our most recent directive, we wanted to give our writers a chance to reflect on good news they, or people they know, had read, experienced or heard about. It was a task that lots of writers actually found quite challenging!

When people ask us what the material in Mass Observation is like, we're just going to start showing them this now

We've got another wonderful blog post up from a visiting PhD researcher! This time Natalie Wood (@manchester.ac.uk‬) considers the what questions early MO raises for anthropology today massobs.org.uk/2025/06/16/w...

We guess it's nice to be warned that what you're about to catalogue is boring....🤔

In 2008 we asked our writers about the 'ups and downs of friendship'. This heartfelt response to directive always moves us! We were lucky to have this writer respond to our directives for nearly two decades!

Our next webinar is this Wednesday! 'Covid-19 Five Years On' will look at the ways that Covid has been researched and written about and how Mass Observation material and methods have been used to do this. You can book your free space here: www.eventbrite.com/e/1311475210...

Cataloguing has begun on our 12th May diaries! So far, we've received over 250 diaries, all in differing forms, including this watercolour we received in the post yesterday 🎨 Not sent us yours yet? Don't worry. There's no deadline for sending your diary!

Join Dr Justyna Robinson and Dr Rhys Sandow for a methods training session that may well be helpful for those working with MO materials! You can find out more and book your space here: www.ncrm.ac.uk/training/sho...