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I was idly browsing the BBC News website yesterday and happened upon an article about social networking entitled Status update: Who cares? I have to say that the title pretty much sums up my attitude towards much social networking.

The final part of the article concerns what we are leaving behind for future historians (and genealogists). It raises the issues of whether digital data will survive as long as paper, and whether we are leaving behind an edited version of our lives for future researchers. However, it wasn’t the article itself which I wanted to share with you, but one of the comments.

The comment in question is from someone calling themselves Binx from London, and I think it is a wonderful analogy for the digital generation:

All sorts of material (flattering and unflattering) leave traces on various disks, hard drives, web sites, etc. These are the attics future generations will find our unguarded moments in. I am sure what’s worth remembering will be remembered and the rest will be dear only to a close circle of friends.