I mentally associate the concept the most with the late 2000’s when Encyclopedia Dramatica (a troll wiki dedicated to making fun of people) was at peak popularity and could ruin peoples lives if an article was made on a person there. All you had to do was type in a persons name on google, and chances are their ED article was one of the first results. But then not even 2 years into the next decade, ED imploded because the site admins wanted the place to be more sterile and profitable, and they were tired of being threatened by lawsuits.
You could argue that Encyclopedia Dramatica lives on in spirit as Kiwifarms, but at this point Kiwifarms struggles to even remain online 24/7 because they managed to piss off the wrong people.
Nothing is eternal on the internet. The only way to save information is to actively back it up and maintain it.
I mentally associate the concept the most with the late 2000’s when Encyclopedia Dramatica (a troll wiki dedicated to making fun of people) was at peak popularity and could ruin peoples lives if an article was made on a person there. All you had to do was type in a persons name on google, and chances are their ED article was one of the first results. But then not even 2 years into the next decade, ED imploded because the site admins wanted the place to be more sterile and profitable, and they were tired of being threatened by lawsuits.
You could argue that Encyclopedia Dramatica lives on in spirit as Kiwifarms, but at this point Kiwifarms struggles to even remain online 24/7 because they managed to piss off the wrong people.
Nothing is eternal on the internet. The only way to save information is to actively back it up and maintain it.