Well sure, but that's true for plenty other quirks of modernity: the fact that we got along without them for millennia doesn't necessarily say anything about th

Well sure, but that's true for plenty other quirks of modernity: the fact that we got along without them for millennia doesn't necessarily say anything about their present usefulness. Chat logs are just an example, and maybe not a very good one because of the pre-digital analogue you point out: let's try screenshots of gameplay. I used to use a third-party tool to take screenshots/clips and upload them to a server. I still have all the clips and pics from these. These days, that functionality is often part of whatever game service framework you're operating in. A while ago a friend's account got banned, and that wiped out all the screenshots and clips stored by the service. Centralization and moves away from open protocols makes it easier for that type of situation, where you don't actually own a copy of content you're creating, to come about.