Link Rot, Digital Decay & The Internet Archive: Turns Out Digital Content Actually Doesn't Last Forever

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Jan 24, 2025•25 min

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Episode description

Thank you to BRITA for supporting the podcast, helping us keep our deep dives going, and, of course, keeping us hydrated! Check out BRITA here: https://www.brita.com.au/turnonthetaste

In this episode, I explore the evolution of digital decay and the preservation efforts by non-profit organisation The Internet Archive, owner of the Wayback Machine. I look at instances of mass content erasure online— such as Myspace, Vine, and Gawker— before answering the question: Why is it so important that we preserve internet history?

Timestamps:

00:40 Intro

3:44 What is the Internet Archive and why was it created?

8:40 Challenges and threats to the Internet Archive

12:58 Lost social media: Myspace & Vine

16:04 The importance of longevity and information protection

17:31 The Internet Archive as a “check” on media

23:03 Archiving content & misinformation

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