3 ms·

I am not saying don't keep a journal but ... I wonder how important it is for most people in the world of today. I have every email I've written since about 19

I am not saying don't keep a journal but ... I wonder how important it is for most people in the world of today. I have every email I've written since about 1995. If I go read heart felt correspodence with close friends I effectly get at least some resemblance a journal. Before email I wouldn't have likely kept copies of letters I sent but now that's effectively automatic. Similarly many people take an order or two more pictures than they did before digital picture and smartphones. Several times a year I stumble on my photo collection usually when searching for an old picture and I end up seeing a large percentage of my entire collection back to about 95. I've also had scanned all my dad's slide collection and my grandmother's photo collection. Of course a dedicated journal would probably be better. I'm just pointing out that I get some of the benefits automatically. I really wish I could fully backup and download my Facebook entries, comments, chats. Same with Line and Whatsapp. I used to backup all my SMS messages back when I used SMS.

Kenji 10y ago
I've been keeping a dream log for some time but it takes quite a bit of time and energy - often 30-60 minutes after getting up. These days, I only write down the most interesting dreams. So yes, writing things down every day has a real cost and this energy and time will just not be available for other activities.
grenoire 10y ago
You can actually request archival from Facebook. It zips up your photos, entries, and chat logs.
SyneRyder 10y ago
Whatsapp has a way to backup as well, but I think you need to be using an iPhone. There's an option to store everything on iCloud, and from there you can access the iCloud backup folder via your computer. I don't remember the exact process, but it is possible - I had a few months of audio Whatsapp messages I wanted to backup/keep and was able to do it.

Kenji 10y ago

I've been keeping a dream log for some time but it takes quite a bit of time and energy - often 30-60 minutes after getting up. These days, I only write down the most interesting dreams. So yes, writing things down every day has a real cost and this energy and time will just not be available for other activities.

grenoire 10y ago

You can actually request archival from Facebook. It zips up your photos, entries, and chat logs.

SyneRyder 10y ago

Whatsapp has a way to backup as well, but I think you need to be using an iPhone. There's an option to store everything on iCloud, and from there you can access the iCloud backup folder via your computer. I don't remember the exact process, but it is possible - I had a few months of audio Whatsapp messages I wanted to backup/keep and was able to do it.