Flashback: A Connection Across the Years — The Wayback Machine

I had an interesting Facebook message (yes, I still have a Facebook account!) this morning.

It was from a fellow writer who was part of a long defunct writing venue called "Gather," were we were active around 2006-2012.

Gather was one of the many "get paid to create content" sites I have been part of over the years, as well as one of the many that eventually went away.

It was a mixed article, blog, fiction, poetry type venue, and contributors did get "paid" if they accumulated enough page views on their content, although it was a pittance for most people. I think I managed to make it to the minimum "payout threshold" of $50 exactly one time.

Like most such venues, Gather was heavily skewed in favor of the prolific "professionals," meaning that there were a handful of people who got regular checks in the mail — and often served as "spokespeople" for the money making aspects of the site — and untold thousands who toiled away for little more than pennies.

In any case, this fellow suddenly reached out to me on Facebook because he had found one of my archived profiles in the Internet Archive and matched it up to a reference on Facebook.

He now runs a group for former "Gatherers" on Facebook, and invited me to join. I did join, but since I spebnd very little time on Facebook anymore, it's unlikely that I will be very active there.

The Internet Archive — also known as "The Wayback Machine" to some — is really quite a wonderful device that has captured and stored more than 600 billion web pages since its inception, including a huge number of long defunct venues. Including many of my old web sites and blogs going back all the way to just around the turn of the millennium.

In fact, before I allowed them to "lapse" and disappear, I submitted snapshots of many of the web sites I once worked very hard on but had to let go. Whereas they are not "mine" anymore, they will always be there as backup documentation, should I ever need them.

The "Internet Age" is a rapidly moving and very fluid environment in which things come and go, all the time. Sometimes, I like to just sit and reflect on all the things that have passed, that I have been part of...

Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Are you familiar with the Internet Archive/Wayback Machine? Are there any old websites or blogs you wish you had copies of, today? Have you ever used the Wayback Machine to "save" web pages that were at risk of censorship? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20211014 23:45 PDT
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