Ask HN: How do you document your life and preserve memories in the internet age?

shark1 · on April 22, 2018

Man, I am on weeks thinking on the same problem you wrote here.

I am tired of uploading my content on sites like Facebook, or Google. Short story: once I uploaded a personal video on Youtube, and they removed forever because there was a ACDC music on the environment. It was precious, and I lost it forever (forgot to do backup).

I am thinking on buying a domain to me, and create a blog to share albums just with people I want, create a newsletter for some topics, and keep my memories and all my data on my servers (and my backups, online and offline).

Social networks would be used just to promote some link or content I want to share.

I sow some interesting things on https://indieweb.org/

psyc · on April 23, 2018

YouTube deleted my entire channel because one video had music in the background. No reinstatement, it's just gone. Then they deleted another of my channels, and that whole Google account, and gave no reason - and I can't think of any.

kleer001 · on April 22, 2018

Poorly. I used to use Flickr, then I tried to curate my own subjects and periodically print out books. But in the end I just take pictures, video, and audio, and dump it in my computer hoping one day my future self will sort it out.

I wish it were dealt with more auto-magically (and interchangeably) on the Os level.

But in the end I don't really care too much. Life is for living and communing with loved ones, not documenting. Still, I post frequently, careless of who "owns" it. I kinda fail to see how it can have value, all those pictures, even in aggregate. It just seems like noise.

tudelo · on April 23, 2018

I don't. I never really take pictures and find it annoying when others decide that they need a picture during any (extremely slightly) noteworthy moment. Of course, some evens should be captured but thankfully everyone in the world thinks they should take a picture during those times so there really is no reason for me to.

p0d · on April 22, 2018

I use an offline WordPress server to blog about my thoughts and experiences. Offline meaning the server is only available on my home network.

I have often thought I would like a tool that would convert my WordPress content into a book. The book would be for my wife and children when I move on.

There is definitely a freedom in blogging for yourself and your immediate family. I just need to resolve the issue of a less technical format of my musings for my family.

Ana_TestRise · on April 24, 2018

I remember what my friend's sister shared with me a few months ago. She put all her adventure and travel into a blog so that the time when she becomes a grandma, she could just share the blog with her grandchildren to tell them her life stories.

This is what I think also about documenting my life.

ApolloRising · on April 23, 2018

Strangely enough a friend of mine uses scrapbooking. It is very old school and manual but she gets a lot of enjoyment out of it. It is something she wants to leave her children when she is gone.

sp527 · on April 25, 2018

Once you stop caring what people think about you, the only thing you need is an iCloud backup subscription.