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Because we can. Historians love glimpses into the mundane of past societies. For the first time in history it is actually possible to archive these mundane aspe
by gizmo686 9y ago
Because we can. Historians love glimpses into the mundane of past societies. For the first time in history it is actually possible to archive these mundane aspects of everyday life like we archive the "important" stuff.
Imagine how ecstatic historians we would if we suddenly discovered an archive of even 1% of the smalltalk that went on in bars during the 1800s.
- brian-armstrong 9y agoBut these people are still alive. It's not a historical dig, it's a creepy collection of one-off thoughts and conversations from living persons.
- gizmo686 9y agoThey wont be alive in 100 years, but by then it would be to late to archive data we destroy today. I have no problem with embargoing these massive archives for to protect the privacy of those involved while still allowing future historians access. For instance, the US census records do not become publically available until 72 years after the census was conducted. In the case where the data was publicly accessible in the first place (as I believe to be the case here), I do not see any reason (EDIT: except copyright) to do this. If we are talking about something like Facebook shutting down (or this case if the Miiverse had private conversations), I would be arguing for a similar embargo on private data.