notes: Internet ephemera

Internet ephemera

Let's start with an assumption:

"Everything we post online is ephemeral."

Ephemeral, adjective: "lasting for a very short time". Transitory, transient, fleeting, short-lived, fly-by-night, temporary

Now, if we start with that assumption, how does that change our approach to what we put online?

To me, there are two likely reactions:

(a) post more! It doesn't matter how verbose you are, little of what you say will last very long

(b) post less! There's no point clogging up the net with ephemera; only post that which is essential; keep your ephemera to yourself

Another question, starting from the assumption: if the assumption itself changes our behaviour regarding online content, does it also have an effect on offline output?

I've been wondering about it all. I've been thinking that perhaps I should make paper-based outputs of anything that I want to really last. By all means clog up the net with everything else in the meantime, but don't form any attachment to it. Don't depend on it being there.

Comments:

comment made in opera

# posted by

Anonymous : 18 February, 2009

I lost a treasured photo (11 years old, pre digital cameras) and couldn't find any backup of it. I knew I'd scanned it and put it online, but that website was long gone.

However, the wayback machine http://www.archive.org/index.php found it for me.

Never assume anything you put online will be ephemeral.

# posted by

se71 : 18 February, 2009

My first reaction to the basic premise was -- ARE YOU ******* NUTS???? The previous posting says the same thing, but with more class. I have a hard enough time trying to convince people that others can read their email.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you!

# posted by

Anonymous : 19 February, 2009

Well, no, actually, I'm not nuts. But I'm curious. You see, over the years I've noticed that stuff I put online will only RELIABLY stay there if I LOOK AFTER IT.

If I don't look after it - well, it tends to disappear. It MIGHT get saved by the wayback machine, as se71 pointed out, but it might not. It might get saved in Google's cache, or in half a dozen other places, or it might not. There's some degree of *likelihood*, but there's little degree of *certainty*.

So my question is: how do we achieve a degree of *certainty*?

Who ensures that your stuff stays online? The answer is, you do. You maintain the web sites, the accounts at third-party providers, the blogs, the photo sharing identities. Once you're either too old to care about it all, or dead, who else will care enough to look after your data?

I'm looking at very long-term data survival. And I don't think the internet - as is - is geared up to ensure that with any degree of certainty.

Which I don't think is at all ******** NUTS, as it happens.

# posted by

gilest : 19 February, 2009

Is it a question of time? Let's remember, try to, that this medium is still relatively new. We are encouraged to splurge, but it takes a while for people to self-edit, to decide what is worthwhile, what means something. Perhaps once we get over the fact that we CAN shout to the world we might start thinking about what we're shouting about.

# posted by

Lawrence : 02 March, 2009

Internet ephemera

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