There is a growing trend for individuals who are in possession of an extensive digital foot print to consider what will happen to their content after death. Consider how many photos, videos, emails, and relationships that are all contained in the virtual world of the internet. Does all of that information continue to be available or does it slowly lose value and simply go away?
Well, it depends on several factors. There are sites like Facebook and Yahoo that have a memorializing type of services if you choose a legacy setting designating a representative. But, it would be impossible for another person to aggregate all of your data that is really worth saving. And, that seems to me to be the key to making a decision to continue a digital life after death. However, just to be clear, this does not include sites that honor deceased people that serve as role models used in fund raising for a particular purpose. Those sites are important and are already managed by caretakers.
Currently there are books and sites dedicated to preserving memories and digital information with some associated cost to administer. Others are just guidelines to provide some perspective to the growing problem of the complexity of our digital existence. One site to get an overview is thedigitalbeyond here.
For my own thoughts on the process I would offer the following ideas: First, decide if there are digital contents that are worth preserving. Second, decide if they are worth placing in a secure location on your device. Third, select someone who can follow your wishes to handle these digital contents with your intended wishes. For example, I have spent five years writing this website and believe that there is continued value to keep the content of the five content pages available for some time. So, I have someone who will have access to my site and they can archive the content and decide when the information is no longer of use and close down the account.
This may be the brave new world, a novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley that is finally here. Keeping up with technology will be difficult but becomes ever more important. One thing that seems inevitable is that SPAM will continue not matter what else happens…
Well, it depends on several factors. There are sites like Facebook and Yahoo that have a memorializing type of services if you choose a legacy setting designating a representative. But, it would be impossible for another person to aggregate all of your data that is really worth saving. And, that seems to me to be the key to making a decision to continue a digital life after death. However, just to be clear, this does not include sites that honor deceased people that serve as role models used in fund raising for a particular purpose. Those sites are important and are already managed by caretakers.
Currently there are books and sites dedicated to preserving memories and digital information with some associated cost to administer. Others are just guidelines to provide some perspective to the growing problem of the complexity of our digital existence. One site to get an overview is thedigitalbeyond here.
For my own thoughts on the process I would offer the following ideas: First, decide if there are digital contents that are worth preserving. Second, decide if they are worth placing in a secure location on your device. Third, select someone who can follow your wishes to handle these digital contents with your intended wishes. For example, I have spent five years writing this website and believe that there is continued value to keep the content of the five content pages available for some time. So, I have someone who will have access to my site and they can archive the content and decide when the information is no longer of use and close down the account.
This may be the brave new world, a novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley that is finally here. Keeping up with technology will be difficult but becomes ever more important. One thing that seems inevitable is that SPAM will continue not matter what else happens…
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