this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.
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It's about time that people understood that "Everything on the internet lasts forever" is a falsehood formed from a Web 2.0 mindset. Now those big Web 2.0 sites everyone thought would dominate the internet forever are dying, and the only thing saving what was on those websites (the internet archive) is being constantly sued by greedy publishers.
I think that warning is more about the lack of control you have over your own data. You post a pic or political view online and it will be duplicated before you know it and you won’t be able to delete it on your own terms.
Yep, it's just Murphy's Law of data: everything you regret posting will be in public archives forever, everything you want to preserve will have gotten deleted the next time you try to find it.
I think if we’re being honest it’s just information theory right? You but any sort of information out there (digital or not) and that info has ripple effects and propagates
The idea of old sites dying is what inspired me to hunt down really old hobby blogs and save up their images. Then contact creators and anybody who replied (sometimes it was a bit of detective work to find an old email) and signed off was reposted on my blog. Those old geocities type websites aren’t going to last forever without maintenance.
My effort is very small, but I think people should search out Web 1.0 and 2.0 old stuff in their wheelhouse and preferably with original author permission, rehost it.
What do you mean, my upvotes won't last for all eternity? AND MY ANGRY DOWNVOTES?!?!
WHAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY?
I mentally associate the concept the most with the late 2000's when Encyclopedia Dramatica (a troll wiki dedicated to making fun of people) was at peak popularity and could ruin peoples lives if an article was made on a person there. All you had to do was type in a persons name on google, and chances are their ED article was one of the first results. But then not even 2 years into the next decade, ED imploded because the site admins wanted the place to be more sterile and profitable, and they were tired of being threatened by lawsuits.
You could argue that Encyclopedia Dramatica lives on in spirit as Kiwifarms, but at this point Kiwifarms struggles to even remain online 24/7 because they managed to piss off the wrong people.
Nothing is eternal on the internet. The only way to save information is to actively back it up and maintain it.