this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023
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Data Hoarder

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We are digital librarians. Among us are represented the various reasons to keep data -- legal requirements, competitive requirements, uncertainty of permanence of cloud services, distaste for transmitting your data externally (e.g. government or corporate espionage), cultural and familial archivists, internet collapse preppers, and people who do it themselves so they're sure it's done right. Everyone has their reasons for curating the data they have decided to keep (either forever or For A Damn Long Time (tm) ). Along the way we have sought out like-minded individuals to exchange strategies, war stories, and cautionary tales of failures.

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I tend to either act as a data hoarder, but most of the time end up being overwhelmed with anxiety about having so much data. Even when I just look at my personal photos, I just feel impeding doom knowing it can only grow and grow, it will never get smaller.

I was wondering if this had a term.

And coming from this question, I am just amazed by this community. What has prompted your interest in data hoarding?

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[–] dwkindig@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I use TailsOS as my daily driver, with persistent storage disabled.

[–] MikeTheMic81@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The data minimalist is going to be so bored when the zombie apocalypse/crash of the economy/Mad Maxx in real life starts and they don't have a PB of TV Shows and movies to keep them entertained over the next 80-100 years. Lol

[–] KyletheAngryAncap@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Wouldn't that be most people? Casually consuming media and just downloading onto their one laptop every once in a while.

[–] ArcticCircleSystem@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

It's called Yahoo.com. Every archivist on the Internet gets Vietnam War flashbacks whenever one of their websites shows up in the news.

[–] 0x4C554C@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

There are people who constantly pay for movies, music, and other data but constantly lose it or don't keep track of it. Only to buy it again and again. They also subscribe to multiple streaming services.

[–] fernatic19@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

You should rest easy then knowing that at any moment the drive could break and lose everything. It will delete stuff for you.

[–] 4thelulzgamer@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I am not sure whether there's an official term for it (though dataphobe comes to mind, but it seems a little off), but there are a lot of minimalists when it comes to data. Probably the kinds of people that handle info that are sensitive and has to be purged frequently. Well, that or the person doesn;t really care about the files and only keeps what s/he needs.

As much as it's a goal of mine to hoard, I kinda do not have as huge as the storages of the other people here, but I tend to keep free indie games I could find, even demos sometimes, and some obscure alternative software for certain paid apps. Usual reason for the hoard is for offline use; I do not want a cloud-only environment.

[–] seanthenry@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

A cloud storage user.

[–] AntiProtonBoy@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

A Buddhist. Everything is in a state of impermanence.

[–] worst-coast@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

A Marie Kondo script.

[–] CaffeinatedTech@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

One of my old housemates had a very organised data collection. One of his forms of catharsis was to go on a deleting spree. If he had a bad day, or an argument at work, or got pwned by fourteen year-olds in CS too much, he'd take it out on his meticulous data directory.

[–] Beowoden@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Destroyer Of Worlds

[–] sohailoo@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Yes, that would be my friend. The dude HATE having anything on his PC. When I say hate I mean HATE, it's so bad to the point where he has a portable version of vlc on his google drive that he downloads every time he wants to watch something and then delete it afterwards. It's portable for fuck's sake just leave it.

[–] AlpineGuy@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Well my girlfriend not only deletes every email and empties the trash in her mailbox daily, she also throws away every piece of paper she receives. This has often led to problems (e.g. wanted to check and see if email again or needed a receipt to exchange something). However she says that those inconveniences are better than having to store all the stuff.

My motivation? I guess deep down a fear of loss, buy also just the good feeling of having stuff ready in case I need it one day.

[–] totesmcdoodle@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Most people.

Most people never back up and they prefer the convenience of streaming subscriptions to actually owning anything.

[–] AdventurousHunter575@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Netflixer?

...but I'd rather call them idiots: Usually those people are just too dumb to backup anything themselves (with very few exceptions).

[–] CuckooKakamora@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I knew a guy that reformatted his hard drive and reinstalled pretty much every month. He said it kept his machine optimized.

[–] Laskonova@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

TBH I am a weird mix. I back up the things I really really care about, then delete a ton of other things to conserve as much storage as possible. I regularly go through emails and delete anything that isn't a newsletter I want to read or that I might need in the future, and move the ones I keep to different folders. I regularly check to makd sure photos on my device are only the ones I truely need/like. I go through the documents I download, and start deleting useless trash and then highly organizing the stuff I keep in folders. So I have like 58 GB of just Ebooks and audiobooks (The ebooks and audiobooks are mostly Project Gutenberg and Librivox ones, but I do buy a few modern Audibook CDs every so often and put them on there, and Google Play Books makes it easy to buy and download no DRM free ebooks) and then like 10 GB of music from CDs, digital marketplaces like Amazon Music, and Bandcamp, etc. But then I also don't really have many pictures or videos on my phone at all. I just hate the idea of buying things or spending money on them, and not owning them for real.

[–] NyaaTell@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago
[–] q1525882@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Healthy person.

[–] linux_n00by@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

databurner?

[–] Key_Mammoth7084@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

my friend, there is only one alternative, that is going off grid, pulling the plug of that damn fiber connection

it's not a good idea to completely stay offline, but the opposite of a data hoarder is a normal person who is not concerned about data flow, where it comes, goes and the methods of storage. this is extremely unhealthy, and if you're already experiencing anxiety, it's the final phase before you suffer a mental break down

the trick with anxiety is that if your brain gets used to it, it's always there and you will always suffer from it. psychiatrists are training people the opposite way with antidepressants, they get the brain used to not caring and less anxiety, a bit sedated and relaxed, and the brain goes automatic

[–] johnsonflix@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago
[–] JonnyRocks@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

a healthy person? (i am a data hoarder - this include physical books as well.)

[–] xInfoWarriorx@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Sure. I've known people who like to delete everything that they don't need. Mostly because they think things run better and faster when there is a lot of open space.

[–] Bodhrans-Not-Bombs@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

A Spotify user.

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