{"id":1319,"date":"2025-03-25T21:57:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T21:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/?p=1319"},"modified":"2025-03-25T21:57:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T21:57:26","slug":"the-internet-is-a-forever-time-capsule-that-could-come-back-to-haunt-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/the-internet-is-a-forever-time-capsule-that-could-come-back-to-haunt-you\/","title":{"rendered":"The internet is a forever time capsule that could come back to haunt you"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We used to bury time capsules on purpose \u2014 now we\u2019re building them on social media without realising what we\u2019re preserving<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You probably haven\u2019t <em>really  <\/em>thought about your digital footprint since that lesson back in school where the teacher told you a horror story about someone getting fired after posting a video of themselves drunk. Back then, the term digital footprint felt like a cautionary tale for the overly online. In 2025, it might mean something else \u2013 especially if you stop scrolling for a second and think about how nothing on the internet is ever really forgotten.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The internet is a forever time capsule, with one distinct difference from traditional ones \u2013 it&#8217;s unintentional. It\u2019s filled with photos of your friends from ten years ago but also with slightly offensive tweets from when you were too young to know better.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How big is this time capsule? Putting a number to it might make it easier to imagine. According to marketing company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/blog\/ws\/2017\/04\/20\/instagram-statistics#:~:text=8,Instagram%20platform%20since%20its%20conception\">WordStream<\/a>, 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram every day. The worst part is we\u2019ve lost control. This time capsule has grown on its own and now it\u2019s just&#8230; there. Everything you\u2019ve ever put online is collecting dust on the digital shelf, ready to be accessed at any point \u2013 two days or 20 years from now. You never know when it\u2019ll come back to bite you in the ass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1024x512.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of a web page reading &quot;gone permanently&quot;\" class=\"wp-image-1326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-770x385.png 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-585x293.png 585w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1170x585.png 1170w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-293x147.png 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1400x700.png 1400w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1024x512.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of a web page reading &quot;gone permanently&quot;\" class=\"wp-image-1326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-770x385.png 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-585x293.png 585w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1170x585.png 1170w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-293x147.png 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT-1400x700.png 1400w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/03\/OR-IS-IT.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Press delete? Your digital footprint might be hard to erase | Image: Magda Patynska<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, you could delete something, but someone might have screenshotted it, so it\u2019s still up in the digital ether. You might think \u2013 I&#8217;m not Beyonce or Gaga; who would care enough to screenshot something I posted? Well, you never know. Jealous ex-boyfriend? A past friend who now resents you? Your mum?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The author of The End of Forgetting, Kate Eichhorn, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-highlight\/2019\/5\/14\/18510760\/social-media-end-of-forgetting-kate-eichhorn\">Vox<\/a>: \u201cThe ability of something from the past to interrupt the present has been amplified. We\u2019re just beginning to face the consequences.\u201d In an\u00a0age where social media has taken\u00a0over every single aspect of our lives, we\u2019re experiencing something called a time collapse \u2013 \u201ca temporal blurring that muddles past and present\u201d, as <a href=\"https:\/\/reallifemag.com\/the-great-beyond\/\">described<\/a> by Sara Reinis, writing for Real Life Mag.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s getting harder to separate who we used to be from who we are now. All we have to do to see our past selves in all their glory is scroll back on Tumblr and read the dramatic post we made when we were fourteen. Facebook will remind you, unprompted, about things you posted on this day four, six, ten years ago. Even though Instagram stories are supposed to be temporary, you can archive them on your profile.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Designed to stay<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We see the effects of this every day when yet another public figure gets cancelled. Kevin Hart. James Gunn. Colleen Ballinger (the ukulele apology girl). Even Jenna Marbles! It\u2019s usually over something way back in their past. They probably don\u2019t even remember posting the offending article and they\u2019ve since grown and moved on. They may have even apologised to whomever they hurt. But that doesn\u2019t matter to the general public, whose favourite pastime is feeling morally superior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cancel culture doesn\u2019t just affect famous people. An average Joe could post something questionable on X and if they\u2019re unlucky, an internet detective will find out where they work and get them fired. If you have a certain amount of power that comes from money and existing in the public eye, you might be able to bounce back. If you\u2019re Joe, you might not.&nbsp;Maybe this <em>is<\/em> just a long-winded version of what your teacher tried to tell you back in school: think before you post. But more than that \u2013 if this really is your time capsule, are you proud of what you\u2019re leaving behind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We used to bury time capsules on purpose \u2014 now we\u2019re building them on social media without realising what we\u2019re preserving You probably haven\u2019t really thought about your digital footprint since that lesson back in school where the teacher told you a horror story about someone getting fired after posting a video of themselves drunk. Back then, the term digital footprint felt like a cautionary tale for the overly online. In 2025, it might mean something else \u2013 especially if [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1197,"featured_media":1323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[140,139,63,54,86],"coauthors":[79],"class_list":["post-1319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breakdown","tag-cancel-culture","tag-digital-footprint","tag-instagram","tag-social-media","tag-tiktok"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1384,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319\/revisions\/1384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}