I think we've all seen a pointless website; websites set up as jokes or blogs long forgotten. Most people, especially in the current age of 'share anything and everything as often and as instantly as possible' web usage, don't give a second thought to content left for dead on the inter-webs. An estimated 95% of blogs are abandoned; never to be visited again. Why should it matter? Cost. Most abandoned blogs aren't deactivated. The same is the case for most abandoned web domains. Data storage like that costs money. Lots of money. The size of the internet as a whole is estimated to double about every five years. Can you imagine? From millions of cat memes to tens of millions of cat memes! (I can't be the only sucker for cat memes right?)
Increases that vast require drastic improvements to servers. Larger servers and more employees cost more money. Some think the added clutter is just something that comes with the territory. The internet is a powerful tool that can get you noticed at little to no cost at all, all from the comfort of your mom's basement in your Simpson's pajamas. It takes out the middle man. Many people who's success originated on a simple online forum or blog probably started over a few times, and likely didn't erase their prior attempts (how about a holler for Blogger eh?). Just like the thousands (probably hundreds of thousands) of photos of my kids that were duds (you know, you take 20 in a row to get the one Facebook worthy photo) that I just can't bring myself to delete, I believe most of the internet is being clung to in sad hopes that it will one day be useful or relevant again. Maybe we'll need it some day. Maybe I'll use it in 10 years. In the meantime what is it costing? For me it's a few expensive external hard drives, full of course, that will probably never be accessed again. On a grander scale, it's probably costing businesses (like Blogger) millions in storage for dormant and now irrelevant data. I believe that just like our landfills, we're going to eventually see this form of digital hoarding become an issue. It should be cleaned up before it's too late. Do you have useless information on the internet? Do you feel it will have a negative effect at some point? Have you ever had old information come back to bite you in your later life or maybe in relation to a job? (a good read on social media and job searching! http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/yes-for-the-last-time-your-potential-employers-are-judging-you-by-what-you-put-on-facebook/)
Resources:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/11/release-us-from-burden-of-internet-clutter
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/fashion/07blogs.html?_r=0
http://www.labnol.org/internet/internet-size-to-double-every-5-years/6569/
Photos retrieved from:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m59h8iU2QG1rr4faco1_400.jpg
http://www.viceland.com/blogs/de/files/2010/09/computer_dump_large.jpg
I think we've all seen a pointless website; websites set up as jokes or blogs long forgotten. Most people, especially in the current age of 'share anything and everything as often and as instantly as possible' web usage, don't give a second thought to content left for dead on the inter-webs. An estimated 95% of blogs are abandoned; never to be visited again. Why should it matter? Cost. Most abandoned blogs aren't deactivated. The same is the case for most abandoned web domains. Data storage like that costs money. Lots of money. The size of the internet as a whole is estimated to double about every five years. Can you imagine? From millions of cat memes to tens of millions of cat memes! (I can't be the only sucker for cat memes right?) 
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, you are not the only one that loves all of the cat memes on the web! I am a fan as well. But with that being said, I agree that there comes a time when the internet has to be "decluttered". Yes, there is stuff that will be used 10 years down the road, but what about all of the useless junk? We want a lot of the outdated data that can be used for research purposes in the future, however there is so much "not legitimate" information that it is hard to even rely on the internet for research. I guess it will always be that we know a handful of credible sources and all others we discard.
My brain is OCD when it comes to removing clutter. In April I got married and my husband is opposite of me in that he keeps things with the mindset of "I may use this again", whereas my mindset is "I haven't used this in X long and that proves that I can do without it!" I wish that the internet had someone with that thought. No one has logged into this blog for X years and the information is irrelevant, delete!
I also want to point out that I completely agree with the point you made regarding online posts that are never removed can and will make a difference in hiring for professional positions. I know that I have used them in hiring and if you think of it they can be used as an informal "background check". It shows who you really are outside of the formal interview...the things you wouldn't share in your interview are easily found in the history of the web!I recently looked through my Facebook photo albums, there is nothing that I would be afraid of anyone seeing, however there are personal things/milestones in my life that years later I now look back and think "why did I feel it necessary to post that all over the web?" As I have grown I see the needless things posted online, and those needless things are cluttering up the web for all of us. Web needs a gatekeeper who will maintain and delete those outdated and neglected sites. That will never happen and I am well aware of that, but as you alluded in your blog, there will be no end to the constant increase in storage space for servers if there is not a purging of the clutter on the web.
What a great title! You could not have put this any better than what you have it…Digital Hoarding! Digital hoarding is seen everywhere on the web it is a great deal of clutter that need to be diminished. People need to clean it up and get it out just as they would unclutter their homes or work area. It cost so much money to feed sites various information that is outdated or information that need to be restructured or up-to-date that people just do not care and others just overlook it. I think if the person who control the different sites monitor them as they are supposed to be monitored then most of the sites would be updated, deleted, or closed out on a regular basis. I feel that the person in charge is not doing their job properly and maybe the company itself should have a better handle on sites they manage. I really enjoyed your blog and the title of it also. It is allowing me to look at blogs in a different perspective. You also made a valid point when you mentioned that websites will eventually become like the landfills. Most cities are struggling to maintain and find a better way of managing the clutter of junk, trash, and add unnecessary items that should not be a part of it of landfills just as the same with the websites. Clutter can cause mass problems for the future of websites if the maintenance is not maintained in a viable manner.
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