[costsNall]

As someone who has saved no chat logs, and just deleted pics, letters, and such from a long gone marriage; IMO, they’re not that important.

In fact, shedding that memory shed cognitive distraction I did not know I had.

If I want to connect to people I do it here and now. Talking to the past in my head is unhealthy.

[Forbo]

I vouched for your comment, because your experience is still a valid data point.

As a counter to that, I lost a close friend to suicide. It was really good to be able to reflect back on the conversations we had and relive the lighter moments we shared together. I agree that dwelling on those things can be unhealthy, but they can also be a valuable part of the healing process.

[costsNall]

Sorry to hear that.

I went through the same in my 20s, grieved and moved on.

For what ever reason, reconnecting to it just makes me mad and depressed now. He’s not dealing with environmental collapse, political unrest, economic inequality, racism...

I find leaning into my anger over reality now leads me to be more productive than ennui over people no longer around to concern themselves with those issues.

[eat_veggies]

The key is that the decision (and timing) to move on and delete those pics and letters should be the user's choice, not the platform's.

[Daniel_sk]

Same here. Emails are much more important to keep.

[saurik]

Great for you. I happen to have spent my life talking to people using messaging apps instead of email, including business contacts and family. If you think your email is somehow valuable and my instant messaging logs aren't, that feels quite a bit insulting.