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Does content on the internet stay on there forever?
Okay so this is a bit of a weird question maybe, but bare with me.
I go to forums alot...so I have tons of posts. Nothing really to be ashamed of in them, but still.
But my question is just as the title says. Does content on the internet stay there forever?
Like if a forum got deleted would the posts still be *somewhere* online? Or if I searched in 20 years, even if the forum is closed down, could I still find my posts?
XD aaah this is bothering me so much.
Anyone know?
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Want to answer more questions in the Technology category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Internet & Web Design?
It's really up to the place you post at. If they never delete things, then it will be up as long as the site. There is stuff still on the internet that I created many years ago. My first email address, which I haven't accessed in over 2 years, still works.
If they do delete things, then there are places where sites are "cached"(saved). Archive.org will keep things for a very long time. Here is a very old version of advicenators:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
There are thousands of other places where sites are cached.
Even if it is deleted but not cached, people often save things. I, myself, have a copy of every question I have ever answered on advicenators. If advicenators goes down, I can republish them somewhere else. I know people who make a copy of nearly everything they do online. All of your dealings with such a person can be resurrected.
So don't put anything you might regret later online. It can be recovered, no matter what you do.
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The length of time something is kept on line depends on how long the server's owners decide to keep the information. All your forum posts have a physical existence as electromagnetic pulses on a hard drive somewhere. If the server gets taken down and the hard drive wiped, there go your forum posts. If the server owners decide your forum archives are taking up too much room, they could be wiped out. If your forum post is popular and gets copied, it could show up in all sorts of places. (I'm still finding copies of a short poem I wrote ten years ago here and there.)
If you want a nightmare vision of your Internet past coming to haunt you, check out a story by Cory Doctorow called "Scroogled". It's freely available on the Internet, in a number of languages.
Hope this helps.
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I'm not real computer savvy, so I don't know how accurate I am, but from what I understand, what goes on the internet stays on the internet... somewhere.
They always say be careful what you put on the web. Don't put crazy pictures of yourself online that may come back to haunt you later in life.
I don't know if it is actual fact, but I have heard that multiple times.
ygs-29/f
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