The internet forgets: 38% of your favourite online moments are gone

We’ve all heard it before: “The internet is forever.” From social media posts to cherished blog threads, the idea was that the digital world would always keep our memories alive. But a new Pew study is challenging that notion.

Turns out, the web is not as eternal as we once thought. About 38% of webpages from 2013 have disappeared.

What’s gone?

Remember that DIY lifehack forum you used to visit? Or that quirky indie music blog you discovered years ago? What about the news articles or internet debates that shaped your online existence? Well, a lot of them are gone now.

Links break, websites shut down, and entire archives of digital culture are wiped off the face of the internet. The pieces of the past we thought would always be there are vanishing, often with no warning.

Why does it matter?

This loss isn’t just about nostalgia for old memes or forgotten threads. It’s about losing history—both personal and collective. Digital content has increasingly become a huge part of our identities and cultural expression, and as websites disappear, so does part of our history.

A broken link or a missing forum thread means lost information, missed opportunities for connection, and a forgotten piece of the past. Even worse, as content disappears, AI tries to fill the gaps. Sometimes, it does so with misinformation, spreading false narratives as it scrambles to reconstruct what was lost. We’re left with fake versions of what was once real.

What can we do about it?

So, what can we do to preserve our digital history? Right now, there’s no perfect solution, but we should start thinking about it. Websites like the Wayback Machine have been archiving the web, but it’s not enough. There’s a need for a more comprehensive system to ensure that important digital content doesn’t disappear forever.

The bottom line

It’s time to rethink how we approach digital preservation. Without proper action, we risk losing vast chunks of culture, history, and the essence of our online identities. The internet is changing faster than we can keep up, and if we don’t start saving our digital moments now, we might regret it later.