Archive hashtag parties after #ArchivesHashtagParty ended: what still runs (ACA last Thursday, EYA)

Checked 30 Oct 2026 (harvest run). '#ArchiveHashtagParty' / '#ArchivesHashtagParty' had 0 hits in any skill file before this; earlier runs listed it as a next idea.

The finding: the big one is over

• US National Archives' #ArchivesHashtagParty ended; the email was public by late March 2025 (Wayback capture of the thread 29 Mar 2025). The email to participants (posted on r/Archivists, read via the Wayback Machine): "After years of archival adventures and countless shared treasures, the #ArchivesHashtagParty has come to an end. Since its inception in August 2017, this initiative has brought together hundreds of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums worldwide, reaching millions on Instagram and X. From the inaugural #ArchivesSquadGoals to our grand finale in #ArchivesHandwriting..."
• It ran on the first Friday of each month (NARA Preservation Facebook post, snippet). Old guides that still list it are out of date. Don't plan around it, and don't post under a dead monthly tag expecting reposts: nobody is curating it.
• One commenter in that thread: "People should do it anyway". Some archives keep using the old tags informally, but there is no organiser and no repost account.

What still runs (read or snippet, dated)

1. ACA Hashtag Party (Association of Canadian Archivists) - "On the last Thursday of every month, the ACA Social Media Team organizes a hashtag party". Platforms now "Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky" (ACA 2026 conference page, snippet); the 2024 event page (read) said Facebook, Instagram and X. Mechanics, verbatim: "you can share materials in your collections related to that theme, tag us and use the hashtag, and we'll re-share your post." Pause in December. Themes are announced in advance on ACA social and Arcan-l. Recent themes: #ArchivesScience (Jan 2024), #ArchivesBlackHistory, Archives Feast, Archives Volunteers; #ArchivesEnclosures on 27 Nov 2025; a June 2026 party after the ACA conference (Instagram, snippet). Still running in 2026. - It's for institutions "across Canada", but the re-share rule is open: tag + hashtag + matching item.
2. Explore Your Archive (ARA, UK and Ireland) - monthly theme, EYA Day on the 10th, Focus Week 21-29 Nov 2026. Already covered in explore-your-archive-eya-hashtag-campaign-folklore-focus-week.md. This is the UK replacement for the monthly habit.
3. #ArchiveZ (ARA Scotland) - a 26-week A-to-Z campaign, one letter a week, in 2020 (Irish Archives Resource blog, read). Not seen running in 2026; any archive can run its own A-Z on its own channels as a series format. - The IAR blog's advice for small archives (read): join the existing monthly themes rather than invent campaigns; "Alone, each archive is a single voice in the crowded social media space" (Dana Allen-Greil on #ArchivesHashtagParty, snippet).

How to do it

1. Keep one dated list of live organised days (organiser, day rule, platforms, last seen). Re-check each one every 6 months; drop a tag the organiser stops curating.
2. For ACA: watch @archivists.ca (Bluesky/FB/IG) in the week before the last Thursday for the theme. Post one matching record that morning with the theme hashtag, tag the ACA account, and link to the record's own page. Comment on two other posts in the tag.
3. Write the post to stand alone (image + one verbatim line + source line): an ACA re-share sends viewers who never saw your account before.
4. Count it: one /r/ redirect per party (e.g. /r/aca-nov26) so a re-share shows up as clicks or doesn't.

Limits

• No published per-participant numbers for ACA; audience is mostly Canadian archivists. Expect a re-share and a few follows from archive staff, not book buyers.
• Bluesky public search returned 403 to our box, so live tag volume wasn't measured this run.

How we apply it to Cedwyn

• Drop #ArchivesHashtagParty from any calendar or idea list. It ended by March 2025.
• Next ACA date: Thursday 26 Nov 2026 (last Thursday; theme announced about a week before), then none in December, then Thu 28 Jan 2027. Uses Facebook "Great House Farm II" and Instagram @cedwynestate, which we already have. No new account. Bluesky is only an option if the bluesky-mastodon skill's account proposal is approved.
• 26 Nov sits inside EYA Focus Week (21-29 Nov), so one record can serve both: post the EYA day theme in the morning, and the ACA theme only if it fits a real record. Don't force a match.
• Posts follow the editorial rules: neutral third person, record line + source, no banned words, never name the project lead, nothing about family holdings. Link to the record page on cedwyn via /r/aca-.
• Stop rule: two ACA parties with no re-share and under 3 clicks each, then drop ACA and keep EYA only.

Sources

• web.archive.org (read 30 Oct 2026; live Reddit blocks our box)
• archivists.ca (read 30 Oct 2026)
• facebook.com posts (Nov 2025 #ArchivesEnclosures; snippet); ACA 2026 Virtual Conference page (snippet: Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky); instagram.com (snippet, June 2026 party)
• facebook.com (snippet: first Friday)
• iar.ie (read)

Raw Markdown: archive-hashtag-parties-after-nara-aca-last-thursday.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json