Welcome and thanks for listening to episode 48, The Disappearing Internet! This episode deals with the ephemeral nature of the internet and the lasting impacts of losing websites, software, and other pieces of technology (and the content that is associated with them) over time. While it may seem natural for the internet to grow and evolve, we seldom contemplate the lost of our social, political, cultural, and creative history on the web. How does the internet disappear, and who is doing the work to archive and preserve all of the ridiculous Tweets and blog posts we create? From the demise of Yahoo Answers and Xanga to preservation efforts headed up by The Internet Archive and the Library of Congress, Katie and Chelsea discuss the vanishing content that you don’t miss until it’s gone forever. Friendly reminder, we are taking the next episode off for Christmas and family time. Please take some time this Holiday season to take care of yourself! We will see you in January!
NPR – “Library Of Congress Will No Longer Archive Every Tweet” by Laurel Wamsley
BBC – “Jack Dorsey’s first ever tweet sells for $2.9m” By Justin Harper
The New York Times – “Yahoo Answers, a Haven for the Confused, Is Shutting Down” By Daniel Victor
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Internet Archive – Software Library
BBC – “Why there’s so little left of the early internet” By Stephen Dowling
The Verge – “Myspace deleted 12 years’ worth of music in a botched server migration” By Jon Porter
how is prangent formed – YouTube/Yahoo Answers meme video