Kev Quirk is thinking about what will happen to his blog when he’s gone:
I’m part of the first generation that grew up online, and most of us are still very much alive. But as time marches on, more of us are going to leave behind these digital epitaphs.
@manton I think a lot about this as well. Part of the reason I write, online and paper, is the hope of leaving something behind. Maybe some openclaw will embody me? Archive.org helps. But entropy wins. Not trying to be a downer but time and the laws of physics are pretty hard to beat.
@eludom It is a bummer but worth thinking about. We need new systems that can handle this. The Internet Archive is amazing but very opaque, not good enough on its own. I’ve tried to build lots of little archiving and backup into Micro.blog, and that’s not good enough either.
@manton My father worked at the Ohio Historical Society microfilming newspapers from the 19th and 20th centuries. The film is supposed to last 500 years. The last records of cousin Jane’s visit to Pataskola from Bucyrus on May 7, 1873 what what they had for lunch. We all strive for immortality ….
@manton My grandmother was deeply into poetry. I have several memorized thanks to her including Longfellow’s “A Psalm of Life”. She also quoted this one, “The dash”, 100.best-poems.net/dash.html
The take home: do what you can now for the people around you.
@manton I used to worry more about this than I do now. I’d guess greater than 95% of my lifetime written word output has already vanished, or close to it (I’m sure there are old APAs in attics for example, but they’re as good as inaccessible). But having spent time as a history major, I realize that (a) most of everything has always vanished and (b) most of what I could leave behind isn’t worth much. So now I just figure if anything from my digital footprint is truly worth saving, someone will save it.
@ffmike Interesting perspective. Maybe there’s a part of me that’s too egotistical to let it go. 🙂 I want to leave something behind. But also I know that true meaning is in making things better for others while we’re still here.
@manton I still sometimes think about what will happen to my “stuff” including the digital, but increasingly I feel the most valuable thing that continues after I am gone, is the results of my actions embodied in others. Its up to the living to do what they wish with anything of mine that’s left, including throw it in the trash and move on. The best I can do is leave behind some basic instructions and let them figure out whether its worth anything.
@manton I’m with @ffmike on this issue. While there are one or two articles over the years I wish I still have a copy of, I view online writing as a performance. It disappears when it’s gone.
Pondering the bestseller list of 100 years ago is a dose of humility. I recognize the names of the authors of two of the top 10 novels of 1926. Meaning I’ve seen the names before — I couldn’t tell you anything about them. I have read none of them. I suspect few people today have.
Even Stephen King says he does not expect to be remembered in 50 years although (he said) Pennywise the Clown might be.
@MitchWagner @ffmike Stephen King will definitely be remembered in 50 years! I think it’s fine for people to have different hopes or expectations. That’s ultimately why we blog, to have control over whether it’s a performance, a journal, a photo album, or something completely different.
