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Katie Mackinnon, Postdoctoral Fellow, Critical Digital Humanities Initiative, University of Toronto

What happens to our data when we no longer use a social media network or publishing platform?

What happened to all of the content posted on social media platforms and blogs — like MySpace and LiveJournal — more than two decades ago? (Shutterstock)

The internet plays a central role in our lives. I — and many others my age — grew up alongside the development of social media and content platforms.

My peers and I built personal websites on GeoCities, blogged on LiveJournal, made friends on MySpace and hung out on Nexopia. Many of these earlier platforms and social spaces occupy large parts of youth memories. For that reason, the web has become a complex entanglement of attachment and connection.

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