Is there a web service that will organize all my online past ('90-'16)?
June 21, 2016 7:13 PM   Subscribe

I told my grandchildren I'd leave the task to them, but now I'm concerned that some pieces are disappearing as I write. I have writing, photos, art, conversations, etc. all over the web ... under many different 'nyms' --

I was online since 1990 ... on BBSes, the WELL, Bitnet, Livejournal, USENET, IRC, Second Life, Twitter and had multiple accounts for chatting, YouTube, social sites, hobbies, etc. Last year I lost my email of 20 years, and failed to save items from it. It was discouraging.

Watching Anil Dash's video of preserving cultural history online made me realize I needed to try to track my life online. I lived in interesting times! And... I don't think my grandchildren will be able to follow all the threads I've left untied. even though I do think they may want to have this archive someday.

I've never built my own website (although I did teach HTML at one time!), and I'm not going to now. I do have three old hard drives in storage ('time capsules' that I had not backed up) - one has my graduate work on 'Cyberrelationships in VR & computer mediated communication' ('93, Seattle).

I'm seriously looking for a service that I can trust. Yes, I could learn to do it all myself, but, frankly ... just don't have the energy, let alone interest in learning new tech skills. I'd like to have a site where I could easily add, update, modify, etc.

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere - I tried searching.
posted by Surfurrus to Computers & Internet (2 answers total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Websites creation is pretty much point and click at services like Squarespace these days. You won't need any tech skills to create a simple site and start uploading stuff to it. Even something like Google Sites or a Google Drive account might be sufficient for your needs.
posted by COD at 6:16 AM on June 22, 2016


I don't know of any services, but it sounds like you're more concerned about having your own copy of your internet life rather than the mechanics of site creation.

This sounds like a "hire a university student" situation.
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:06 AM on June 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


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