I realize that some will think me morose, publishing this on the first day of 2025, but recent events have made me reflective of an irrefutable fact: someday, we will all post our last meme.
Of course, this assumes you’ve ever posted a meme at all.
But memes aside, someday, your Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok wall might become a digital memorial. While some may wish to ask their loved ones to “burn their correspondence” Emily Dickinson style, that’s much harder to do in an era of digital footprints that stretch across the internet. The photos you share, the captions you write, the jokes, the triumphs, the insightful business advice, and the everyday moments — all of it will form your digital legacy. It’s sobering to consider, but your digital footprint — the sum of everything you leave behind online — will become part of how you’re remembered.
The question is, what story does it tell?
I recently learned that a man I knew from high school passed away. He was 43, just a little older than me, and he died suddenly and unexpectedly. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. We grew up on the same street, shared the same last name, and he was my first crush and my first friend. I haven’t talked to him in 20 years, but when I heard the news, I found myself scrolling through his Facebook posts. It was like peering into a snow globe — a time capsule of his life. His jokes, his photos, his thoughts. But as much as I found, it wasn’t the lived experience of knowing him — running around the neighborhood on our bikes, marveling at the husks of cicadas clinging to trees when we were ten, sharing eighth-grade musings on a swingset at dusk, or years later, drinking cheap beer on someone’s porch. Those memories aren’t in the digital footprint, which is a shame because they were just as much my old friend as any meme about the shameful way the Bengals played this year.
And yet, that digital legacy is all that remains — a glimpse of someone long removed from my immediate life. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it does not represent the whole of the person who is gone.
This experience made me think deeply about the mark we leave in this digital age. For younger generations, the concept of a digital footprint begins at birth. Parents post baby photos, tag milestones, and share achievements. By the time they grow up, there will be entire servers of data documenting their lives. The highs, the lows, the mundane. But how much thought do we put into what that footprint says about us? About the impact it will have on those who look back on it someday?
What Is a Digital Footprint?
Your digital footprint is the trail of data you leave online. It’s the Instagram photos, the tweets, the blog posts, the comments, the shares, and the tags. It’s the Spotify playlists that reveal your love for 90s grunge or Icelandic metal. It’s the LinkedIn posts detailing your career milestones and the TikTok videos where you document your DIY adventures.
It’s everything you’ve contributed to the digital ecosystem, consciously or unconsciously. And in this age, it’s likely the primary way people will remember you — even decades from now.
There’s a young man I also went to high school with who passed away in his mid-twenties nearly 15 years ago. His Facebook legacy page is still there, and occasionally people post on it — to remember, to grieve. It’s an epitaph of the silly, the poignant, and sometimes (not in his case, but in others) even the cruel or inflammatory. And that digital record will outlive us. Maybe not indefinitely — servers get deleted, platforms disappear (remember MySpace?) — but for a good while after we’re gone, the pages of our digital history remain as a testament to who we were, at least in part.
The Gravity of Your Digital Legacy
The digital age allows us to immortalize pieces of ourselves. But unlike physical mementos — a handwritten letter, a photo album — our digital contributions are vast and public. The average social media user spends nearly two hours a day online. That’s two hours a day contributing to a legacy.
But will that legacy reflect who you truly are?
Think about it. Will your footprint be a collection of sarcastic memes, carefully curated photos, and the occasional vent post? Will it be filled with deep connections, meaningful conversations, and glimpses into the values that mattered most to you? When someone scrolls through your posts decades from now, will they get a sense of your humor, your kindness, your quirks? Or will they only see fleeting snapshots of a curated life?
The Responsibility of Digital Curation
For younger generations, this conversation is even more critical. Many have digital footprints that began before they could even type their names. Their first “posts” were made by their parents before they were born — gender reveals, baby announcements, photos of chubby cheeks and first steps. By the time they’re old enough to make their own decisions, their online identity is already partially shaped.
This raises questions about ownership and responsibility. How much control do you have over the digital story being told about you? And for parents, what story are you telling on behalf of your children? You’re creating content that could be seen for decades, maybe even centuries. Anything is possible.
Even for those of us who began our digital lives as adults, the challenge remains. Are we intentional about what we share? Are we mindful of how our words and images will echo into the future?
If I look back at my own digital footprint, there’s a lot of chaff — reshared content, some downright ridiculous. But all of it reflects me, for better or worse. My partially sorted playlists, my unfinished art, my cookies baked, my craft projects finished and unfinished — that’s the legacy I’d leave behind if I were no longer here. So it matters. It matters what you put out into the world.
What Does Your Digital Footprint Say?
Picture someone you love scrolling through your digital footprint long after you’re gone. What would they uncover about you? Would they see the heart of your relationships, the principles you championed, or the dreams you poured yourself into? Would it reflect a life rich with meaning?
Here’s something to consider as you ponder your digital legacy:
What values do I want to showcase? Are the causes, beliefs, and passions that light you up visible in your posts and interactions? If not, how might you weave them in?
Am I sharing my truth? Polished photos and clever captions are fun, but are they the full picture? Authenticity, even in small doses, connects deeply and resonates longer.
How do my words and actions ripple out? Think about the kind of imprint you want to leave on those who cross your digital path. A kind comment or thoughtful post can linger in someone’s mind long after they read it.
What stories am I preserving for my loved ones? When friends and family look back, will they find pieces of you that spark joy, laughter, or comfort? Or will they encounter a version that feels incomplete? Moreover, will they encounter things that are cruel, or unkind, or dismissive?
Why does it matter?
Your footprint tells your story. Social media isn’t just about fleeting moments — it potentially plays a part in how we’re remembered after we’re gone, and blogs aren’t just musings or thought pieces sent into the ether never to matter or exist to anyone after a month or two. While we might believe that we have all the time in the world, and we believe that we’ll have time to curate, or plan, sometimes we don’t. Your digital footprint is where connection, grief, and memory will intertwine someday. Your posts, your words, your shared moments — they all have weight. They’re the snow globe someone might shake in the future, hoping to glimpse who you were.
Your digital footprint isn’t just for you; it’s for the people who will hold your memory in their hands one day. It’s for the friends who might revisit your timeline to remember a joke you shared, the family who might comb through your photos to relive cherished moments, or even for strangers who might learn from your insights or be inspired by your kindness. Your digital legacy bridges the gap between the past and the present, shaping how you’ll be remembered by those you leave behind.
What story are you writing?
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