What is Digital Hoarding and Are You a Culprit?

Some people have tens of thousands of emails from the last ten years saved on their phone, as well as hundreds of unread PDFs, and 120000 photos saved. Digital hoarding is much like hoarding however it focuses on saving digital photos, videos and personal files. It’s saving at the extreme. To give an example, there is one documented case is of of a 47-year-old man who took and kept 1000 digital photographs every day.

While many of us likely have lots of saved photos and emails, digital hoarding is uncontrolled saving of such items. Much like hoarding, a person who is a digital hoarder has great emotional connection to their saved items and as a result finds it difficult to function without them.

Given that they are online files, there is no end to what they can save and when. Unlike hoarding, digital hoarding is a private state where no one sees your accumulation not the impact is has on your wellbeing, sense of control and security. It also can spiral quickly as you take your hoarded files everywhere you go. We are just starting to see the long term impacts of our digital lifestyle and they are emerging thick and fast.