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# Would You Burn Your Entire Archive
- URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2022/11/would-you-burn-your-entire-archive/
- Published: 2022-11-29T07:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-06-16T23:27:24.000Z
- Description: This Week In Writing, we contemplate throwing out our leftovers and slimming down our digital presence.
- Author: Justin Cox
- Tags: Craft, #This Week In Writing, This Just In, Social Media, Life, #twitter

Today is [Throw Out Your Leftovers Day](https://nationaltoday.com/throw-out-your-leftovers-day/?ref=justincox.com) since **theoretically* any Thanksgiving leftovers should be thrown out by now. You don’t want to get sick eating spoiled food. I say **theoretically* because I’ve been known to eat leftovers for more than a week without issue. But, you do you.

Anyway, the day got me thinking about throwing out the **leftover* content we create as writers. I recently [deleted all of my tweets](https://justincox.medium.com/the-day-twitter-died-57e3526fb056?ref=justincox.com), and I periodically go through and delete past articles I don’t like. It’s a form of spring cleaning (during any point of the year) to keep my digital presence orderly.

As Twitter continues to melt down, I recently returned to my old [Tumblr account](https://justincox.tumblr.com/?ref=justincox.com). Looking up people I currently follow on Twitter was like stepping into a time capsule — most people who had Tumblrs hadn’t posted since 2016\. Who knows whether they were being preserved for posterity or were simply forgotten. Either way, the platform was like a dusty attic of content lost to the history of time.

When I go back and delete old articles or when I purged my Twitter archive, I have a small debate in my head: should I let them live on — after all, they are words I wrote and were proud of at the moment; or, should I let them go since they don’t reflect my best work. My desire for minimalism typically wins out.

There are some old posts that I hold on to and even update from time to time. [My first Medium article](https://justincox.medium.com/memories-from-my-first-job-8f5a3abe3015?ref=justincox.com), published in February 2014, is updated every few years. It’s a way for me to see how I’ve grown as a writer and storyteller. Ironically, that post was originally published on Tumblr. It’s strange how things come full circle.

****Do you throw out your leftovers or let them live on for posterity?** Hit reply or leave a comment about how you handle your writing archive.