Our trail on the internet is sometimes called our digital footprint, but there are two distinct pieces that make up that trail which render the footprint analogy only half baked. For the work that is actively being completed and the accounts we continue to access and build, these are our digital footprint. New enough and still within our view so that we can take action to make changes if necessary and continue to actively shape their impression. But when it comes to accounts we no longer have access to or have long since forgotten, it is much more permanent than that. The definition of fossil (trimmed for dramatic effect) is: a remnant, impression, or trace of an organism of past geologic ages that has been preserved.
How many of your digital fossils will future digital archaeologists unearth?
During an otherwise great and impactful conversation with Mark Otter (CEO of Participate), we digressed to talking about Second Life and I found that my account still exists. Other than my original AOL Screen Name and a MySpace page, I’m trying to think of what other #DigitalFossils I’m leaving behind.There was that brief moment in time that I had a tumblr blog- time for a digital dig!