Periodizing Web Archiving: Biographical, Event-Based, National and Autobiographical Traditions

The purpose of this chapter is to periodize web archiving, in order to discuss four ongoing traditions that form an overlapping and layered history of both the implementation but more so the study and use of archived websites. The most contemporary period of web archiving, as with most recent periods generally, is perilous to characterize, but the self-archiving and selfie culture undertaken most visibly on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram appears to sit at the end of a spectrum that commenced with the Internet Archive and preserving single websites, and has witnessed a chronology of efforts that include both event-based as well as national web making. I argue that each of these periods corresponds to a particular historiographical tradition, inviting certain kinds of content-based history-writing with the web archives.