Attempting To Erase Our Online Lives

Clay Shirky highlights one of the true conundrums of our digital lives; the realization that internet isn’t as impermanent as we’d like to think, particularly when it comes to our social media profiles. To that end, Shirky’s cursory Google search uncovers numerous users’ last ditch efforts to rid themselves of their pesky LinkedIn accounts, changing their login names to telling pseudonyms like Mr. Delete This Account and  delete delete delete delete delete delete, along with”two users named Delete My Profile, four named Delete This Profile, and no fewer than ten named Unsubscribe Unsubscribe.”

Establishing these online presences can certainly open up new opportunities, but as these rather comical examples point out, many such accounts can quickly outlive their usefulness without offering any clear exit strategy. So before you sign the dotted line on the next “big network,” be prepared to accept the fact that this decision could potentially follow you around for a lifetime.  

[via boingboing]

[image via Kr. B. on Flickr]