Digital hoarding

The limited studies published that focus on examining digital hoarding behavior identified the following influential factors as having significant impact on an individual's decision to accumulate digital material: • Some individuals experience anxiety when faced with disposing of digital items, particularly if they fear losing something important. • Natural creative motives such as the desire to share ideas. • Perceptions around the need or usefulness of digital assets in the future • Perceiving digital assets will be needed in the future == Research findings ==

The increasing availability of digital materials coincides with increased opportunity for people to accumulate digital materials. Van Bennekom et al. introduced "digital hoarding" in scientific literature in 2015 after reading descriptions of it published on the Internet by both patients and professionals. They define it as "the accumulation of digital files to the point of loss of perspective, which eventually results in stress and disorganization." Sweeten et al. conducted one of the first research projects in 2018 that focused on digital hoarding, examining characteristics and potential problems associated with digital hoarding. Constraints The focus of existing studies on digital hoarding are narrow in scope, typically focusing on determining what differences and similarities exist between people's reasons to accumulate digital material in a work setting vs private setting. This boundary between work vs personal information spaces is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain prompting some archivists to suggest work and personal information could merge into personal record keeping. Other limitations include small sample research groups and a lack of agreed upon metrics to fully measure the aspects of digital hoarding behavior. == Common hoarding sites ==

of a browser tab hoarder. Digital hoarding occurs in any electronic spaces where information is stored. These are common areas where digital clutter may exist: • Browser windows and tabs • Excessive desktop icons • Digital images • Old documents • File folders • Email inboxes • Internet bookmarks no longer being referenced • Music and video files • Old software/computer programs/apps no longer being used • Social media/Online game "friends" and "following" Some social media platforms also provide opportunity for digital hoarding. On the social networking site Facebook, for example, one can accumulate a vast number of “friends”, even reaching the maximum limit of 5000 for example, that may merely be acquaintances or lapsed contacts or even complete strangers. Groups and Pages can also contribute to clutter when users join and like new ones, respectively, without leaving or unfollowing those in which they are no longer interested. == Motivations ==

Digital hoarding stems from a variety of individual traits and habits, corporate conditions, and societal trends: • Many businesses rely on email correspondence for decision-making and formal approvals. As a result, employees often hoard work emails in the event it is required to verify a future decision. • Developments in data storage technology result in digital hoarding as individuals and companies lack a need to optimize storage space. • The widespread availability and rapid dissemination of open content on the Internet makes it easier for users to obtain and hoard digital media. == Repercussions ==

Digital hoarding can lead to potential issues: • Digital clutter can be mentally draining, requiring time and attention. For example, hoarded emails can make an inbox seem overwhelming unless emails are archived when filtered. The user wastes time sifting through excess emails, which can result in lowered employee productivity. • Digital hoarding can create an unhealthy attachment to digital content and foster a sort of “media addiction.” It is often good for one's mental health to let go of useless clutter, and decluttering digital devices can help with decluttering the mind. • Excessive digital content takes up more hard drive space than it merits, and may even require the addition of extra digital storage to one's computer or mobile phone. • Server farms use more electricity as they need more disk drives. The extra load is especially notable in corporate domains. This adds to an individual's or company's electricity expenses if self hosted and carbon footprint if stored on a server. == Positive reasoning ==

From the few studies that have specifically examined digital hoarding, participants cite their reasoning for saving many digital files is due to the lack of physical space it takes up. == Media coverage ==

Many American documentary television series depict the struggles of compulsive hoarders, such as Hoarding: Buried Alive on TLC and Hoarders on A&E. These shows have popularized awareness of hoarding, showing the consequences of accumulating clutter. However, these programs usually focus on physical hoarding. The WPTV story of Larry Fisher, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a notable exception. This program focused on digital hoarding, depicting Fisher's longstanding refusal to delete any digital content. Instead, Fisher purchased an additional computer every time he ran out of hard drive space. The BBC News story of Washington, D.C., resident Chris Yurista expresses a counterpoint to this perspective. The program portrayed Yurista as a "21st century minimalist" for living with hardly any physical assets, substituting digital goods wherever possible. == Related concepts ==

Digital clutter is the term often used to describe the resulting (digital) artifacts of digital hoarding, but it should not be understood as exclusively the result of hoarding. Digital clutter can be created as a side-effect of high occurrences of another user activity, such as the computer desktop icons created through frequent installation of applications. In such a case the clutter does not reflect the user's intent to hoard. Housekeeping is the term often used to refer to the activity by which digital clutter moves out of the 'clutter' designation, either by being thrown away, being organised, or by the recognition of its importance, thus no longer making it part of the 'clutter'. Gadget hoarding is the excessive hoarding of electronic hardware including computers, cellphones, wires and cables, VCR and DVD players, audio equipment, routers, and tablets; it can occur in individuals alongside digital hoarding. == See also ==