Friday 2 July 2010

Archaeology of the Internet

The Wayback Machine allows you to access dead websites after they have gone (though of course they won't be updated any more).

Some time back, I posted a humorous item about the internet archaeologists of the near future discovering the ruins of the Friendster civilisation, complete with abandoned profiles. The same could have been said of Geocities.

So, could you have an archaeology of the internet? How would you go about it? I guess you could chart the rise and fall of various websites, and how they over-reached themselves in the quest for users (Geocities), or added too many new features (Facebook). This process might be analogous to the rise and fall of empires (Roman, Byzantine, Sasanian...)

2 comments:

Makarios said...

For some reason, I am reminded of Shelley's "Ozymandias."

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Yewtree said...

Indeed - how appropriate!