One of the questions “non-believers” often ask is how can God or Santa Claus possibly be omniscient, all-knowing and remember every good and bad thing you’ve ever done. This is especially concerning for those of us on the naughty list.
Well, it seems somewhere along the line a large percentage of the world was convinced to use software platforms (like FB, instagram, google maps) and to carry around a tracking a recording device 24/7. Combined these systems serve as a God 2.0 – keeping track of your thought, activities and whereabouts and storing them forwever where they can be recalled by virtually anyone depending on the circumstances.
With this in mind I’ve been looking for “scrubbers” that can obliterate the digital past without necessitating becoming a total Luddite and leaving all social media and the internet in general behind.
Step 1 is to regularly delete your browsing history and all cookies from your web browser. I use Google Chrome, being trapped in the Android/Google-Verse, but I’m sure there are corollaries for Apple Addicts. The nice thing about managing your history and cookies in Chrome is that it is in the cloud so will automatically apply to all devices that you use. I’ve got my Google accounts logged into a tablet, a phone, and three computers so this is a big time saver for me.
HOW-TO: To zap your browsing history and get rid of all those junk files just follow the instructions in this post from the Google: Zap Your History!
Step 2 is to zap your history on Facebook. I prefer to think of Facebook as a spur of the moment micro-blog – it has really poor search capability and little in the way of a content ID system (compared to YouTube for example). So let’s treat it as ephemeral garbage heap that it is and only keep active our recent content. Also, ask yourself if you really want prospective employers to know you once thought Dennis Kucinich would make a good president or that there were good people on both sides at Charlottesville?
One way to accomplish the purge is to go to your Activity Log and painstakingly delete each and every like, photo post, event comment, etc. If you’ve been on the platform for a few years and been even moderately active this could take you hours.
HOW-TO: A better way is a Chrome extension called Social Book Post Manager. This cool little app installs directly into your browser. You navigate to your Activity Log, launch the extension (it will appear as a little icon on the top right of your browser) and then select the year, month, etc. for which you want to delete and then punch one button and viola! It’s gone forever. You can even filter further with search terms, although I like the idea of “scorched Earth” better. You’ll be amazed how it chomps through your timeline and destroys the past like that little red light gizmo they used in Men in Black.
Here’s how to get it and use it: Social Book Post Manager
Step 3 Delete your twitter account. I frankly can’t find a use for Twitter. I tried it a few times and to me it’s just clutter and adverts in my estimate. So kill that sucker dead!!
Step 4 Managing Instagram. I really like instagram. It’s just pics, idiots can’t post zillions of links they haven’t read (like they can on FB) and you can post to FB automatically without having to actually look at FB. I haven’t found a purger for Instagram so I’d recommend periodically reviewing your posts and see if there’s something you’d like to take down that is either too private or might be regrettable in the future (who knew you really like those beer bongs!).
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