{{short description|Excessive acquisition of digital material}} {{essay|date=November 2022}} [[File:Exampleofdigitalhoarding cluttereddesktop001.jpg|thumb|alt=|An extremely cluttered computer desktop, a common example of digital hoarding]] '''Digital hoarding''' (also known as '''e-hoarding''', '''e-clutter, data hoarding,''' '''digital pack-rattery''' or '''cyber hoarding''') is defined by researchers as an emerging sub-type of hoarding disorder characterized by individuals collecting excessive digital material which leads to those individuals experiencing stress and disorganization.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1136/bcr-2015-210814|title = A case of digital hoarding|year = 2015|last1 = Van Bennekom|first1 = Martine J.|last2 = Blom|first2 = Rianne M.|last3 = Vulink|first3 = Nienke|last4 = Denys|first4 = Damiaan|journal = BMJ Case Reports|volume = 2015|pages = bcr2015210814|pmid = 26452411|pmc = 4600778}}</ref> Digital hoarding takes place in electronic environments where information is stored digitally. The term initially gained popularity among online forums and in the media before receiving scholarly attention.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.031|title=Digital hoarding behaviours: Underlying motivations and potential negative consequences|year=2018|last1=Sweeten|first1=George|last2=Sillence|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Neave|first3=Nick|journal=Computers in Human Behavior|volume=85|pages=54–60|s2cid=49487239|url=http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/33816/1/Sweeten%20et%20al%20-%20Digital%20hoarding%20behaviours.docx}}</ref> Research indicates there may be correlation between individuals who exhibit physical and digital hoarding behaviors<ref>Centre for Research and Evidence on Security. (2020). ''Cybersecurity Risks of Digital Hoarding Behaviours''. https://crestresearch.ac.uk/types/report/</ref><ref>Kim, S. (2013). ''Personal Digital Archives: Preservation of documents, preservation of self'' (dissertation). University of Texas at Austin.</ref><ref name=":3" /> and acknowledges there is a lack of psychological literature on the subject.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1177/2055207619882172|title = Exploring aspects of the cognitive behavioural model of physical hoarding in relation to digital hoarding behaviours|year = 2019|last1 = Thorpe|first1 = Susan|last2 = Bolster|first2 = Alexander|last3 = Neave|first3 = Nick|journal = Digital Health|volume = 5|pmid = 31636918|pmc = 6785915}}</ref>
Several studies suggest the main influential factors of digital hoarding are related to a number of issues and personal reasons which includes reduced costs for storing data, individuals lacking time to curate accumulated data, the perceived lifespan of data and emotional attachment to digital assets. The studies conducted to examine digital hoarding are limited in scope as this is an emerging area of study. There is a lack of agreement among researchers about whether digital hoarding is a condition to be treated rather than a normal human activity.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|doi = 10.7560/ic54301|title = Collecting as Routine Human Behavior: Personal Identity and Control in the Material and Digital World|year = 2019|last1 = Dillon|first1 = Andrew|journal = Information & Culture|volume = 54|issue = 3|pages = 255–280|s2cid = 210381785}}</ref>
The term '''data hoarding''' is also used to describe the (non-pathological) archiving of large amounts of data that might otherwise be lost, such as old video games and websites. Due to the massive 2025 United States government online resource removals, data hoarding as loss prevention gained much attention.<ref>{{cite web |last=Morales |first=Jowi |date=2025-02-13 |title=Data hoarders race to preserve data from rapidly disappearing U.S. federal websites |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/big-tech/data-hoarders-race-to-preserve-data-from-rapidly-disappearing-u-s-federal-websites |work=Tom's Hardware}}</ref>
Data hoarding differs from commercial and governmental digital hoarding activities such as data collection and data mining, which are hoarded for the purposes of AI training, targeted advertising and mass surveillance.
Datahoarding-behavior can be observed in various digital spaces such as the social media Reddit's datahoarder community (/r/DataHoarder). In 2018, the community collectively archived approximately 25 Terabytes of pornographic images from the microblogging site Tumblr after it was announced the site would impose a ban on NSFW material.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Bryan |date=2018-12-06 |title=Reddit’s data hoarders are frantically trying to save Tumblr’s NSFW content |url=https://thenextweb.com/news/reddits-data-hoarders-are-frantically-trying-to-save-tumblrs-nsfw-content |access-date=2026-02-26 |website=TNW {{!}} Insider |language=en}}</ref> On the 6th of October 2025, a member of Reddit's datahoarder community created an organized database of the Epstein files.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koebler · |first=Jason |date=2025-10-09 |title=Data Hoarder Uses AI to Create Searchable Database of Epstein Files |url=https://www.404media.co/data-hoarder-uses-ai-to-create-searchable-database-of-epstein-files/ |access-date=2026-02-26 |website=404 Media |language=en}}</ref>
== Behavioral influences == The limited studies published that focus on examining digital hoarding behavior identified the following influential factors as having significant impact on an individual's decision to accumulate digital material: * Some individuals experience anxiety when faced with disposing of digital items, particularly if they fear losing something important.<ref name=":02" /> * Many digital hoarders don't know how to organize their digital content or aren't in the habit of doing so, and they lack a methodology for determining which content is worth keeping.<ref name="drowning">{{cite news |last=Beck |first=M. |date=2012-03-27 |title=Drowning in Email, Photos, Files? Hoarding Goes Digital |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577305520318265602.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327173828/https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577305520318265602.html |archive-date=2012-03-27}}</ref><ref name=":1">Gormley, C. J., & Gormley, S. J. (2012). Data hoarding and information clutter: The impact on cost, life span of data, effectiveness, sharing, productivity, and knowledge management culture. ''Issues in Information Systems, 13(''2), 90–95.</ref> * Natural creative motives such as the desire to share ideas.<ref name=":2">Williams, P., Leighton John, J., & Rowland, I. (2009). The personal curation of digital objects: A lifecycle approach. ''Aslib'' ''Proceedings, 61''(4), 340–363.</ref> * Perceptions around the need or usefulness of digital assets in the future ** Perceiving digital assets will be needed in the future<ref name=":02" /> ** Uncertainty around what data will be needed in the future<ref name=":1" /> * Lacking motivation to manage digital assets<ref name=":02" /> * Time constraints ** Keeping all of one's digital files requires less time and effort than evaluating and deleting them.<ref name="cyborg"><!-- Invalid TLS certificate, so not https 2021-06-13 -->{{cite web |last=Case |first=A. |date=2011-12-18 |title=Digital Hoarding |url=http://cyborganthropology.com/Digital_Hoarding |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124091554/http://cyborganthropology.com/Digital_Hoarding |archive-date=2020-11-24 |work=Cyborg Anthropology}}</ref><ref name=":6" />
Researchers cite the following developments in technology as playing a role in enabling the increased accumulation of digital material:
* Existence of hardware and software for creating digital content<ref name=":2" /> * Development of digital storage capacity<ref>Schüll, N. D. (2018). Digital containment and its discontents. ''History and Anthropology'', 29(1), 42–48.</ref>
== Research findings == The increasing availability of digital materials coincides with increased opportunity for people to accumulate digital materials. Van Bennekom et al. introduced "digital hoarding" in scientific literature in 2015 after reading descriptions of it published on the Internet by both patients and professionals. They define it as "the accumulation of digital files to the point of loss of perspective, which eventually results in stress and disorganization."<ref name=":4" /> Since the publication of this case study, several attempts have been made to study digital hoarding. In each of these publications there are clear knowledge gaps identified citing the need of more research to better understand digital hoarding.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|doi = 10.1145/3173574.3174161|chapter = Hoarding and Minimalism|title = Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems|year = 2018|last1 = Vitale|first1 = Francesco|last2 = Janzen|first2 = Izabelle|last3 = McGrenere|first3 = Joanna|pages = 1–12|isbn = 9781450356206|s2cid = 5041322}}</ref>
Sweeten et al. conducted one of the first research projects in 2018 that focused on digital hoarding, examining characteristics and potential problems associated with digital hoarding.<ref name=":02" /> They identified five barriers to deleting digital data including: keeping data for the future/just in case, keeping data as evidence, lazy/time-consuming, emotional attachment to data, not my server-not my problem. They also identified four problems associated with accumulating excessive amounts of data including: effects on productivity, effects on psychological wellbeing, cybersecurity issues, links with physical hoarding. Participants in this study were frequently surprised by how much data they accumulated yet still experienced difficulties when discussing discarding that information. This study of digital hoarding was limited by a small sample of participants and the absence of an agreed upon standardized scale to measure digital hoarding behavior.<ref name=":02" />
Vitale et al. published another early research project in 2018 investigating digital data perceptions among a small sample of individuals with diverse backgrounds. This research focused on what digital items individuals held onto for multiple years and the criteria used to determine why and how those digital items were considered worth saving. The researchers used hoarding and minimalism as two extremes to discuss the spectrum of tendencies uncovered during interviews as they found these tendencies required context for understanding and not fitted for binary categorization.<ref name=":6" />
In addition to bringing attention to hoarding tendencies, Vitale et al.'s research compared and contrasted these tendencies as they relate to identity construction.<ref name=":6" /> Dillon suggests within the spectrum Vitale et al. established with hoarding and minimalism as extremes at each end, most human engagement with digital and physical objects falls in between those two extremes.<ref name=":7" />
Published studies focused on digital hoarding include adult participants and no children. One researcher in search of ways to apply what is known about adult hoarding to identifying and treating hoarding behavior exhibited by children suggested further research into digital hoarding behavior among children.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1017/cha.2020.29|title=An overview of hoarding difficulties in children and adolescents|year=2020|last1=Whomsley|first1=Stuart R. C.|journal=Children Australia|volume=45|issue=3|pages=182–185|s2cid=225689865}}</ref>
=== Constraints === The focus of existing studies on digital hoarding are narrow in scope, typically focusing on determining what differences and similarities exist between people's reasons to accumulate digital material in a work setting vs private setting. This boundary between work vs personal information spaces is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain prompting some archivists to suggest work and personal information could merge into personal record keeping. Other limitations include small sample research groups and a lack of agreed upon metrics to fully measure the aspects of digital hoarding behavior.<ref>Lee, C. A. (2011). ''I, Digital: Personal Collections in the Digital Era''. Society of American Archivists.</ref><ref>Harris, V. (2001). On the back of a tiger: deconstructive possibilities in ’Evidence of me’. ''Archives & Manuscripts'', ''29''(1), 8–21. Retrieved from https://publications.archivists.org.au/index.php/asa/article/view/8881</ref>
== Common hoarding sites == [[File:Tab Hoarder Bar.png|thumb|The tab bar on Chromium of a browser tab hoarder]] Digital hoarding occurs in any electronic spaces where information is stored. These are common areas where digital clutter may exist:{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} * Browser windows and tabs * Excessive desktop icons * Digital images * Old documents * File folders * Email inboxes * Internet bookmarks no longer being referenced * Music and video files * Old software/computer programs/apps no longer being used * Social media/Online game "friends" and "following"
Some social media platforms also provide opportunity for digital hoarding. On the social networking site Facebook, for example, one can accumulate a vast number of “friends”, even reaching the maximum limit of 5000 for example, that may merely be acquaintances or lapsed contacts or even complete strangers.<ref name="eduniverse"><!-- Dead 2021-06-13 -->{{cite web |last=Cabellon |first=Ed |title=Stop Digital Hoardin |url=http://www.eduniverse.org/stop-digital-hoarding |url-status=dead |date=n.d. |work=EDUniverse |access-date=2014-04-08 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140408195747/http://www.eduniverse.org/stop-digital-hoarding|archive-date=2014-04-08}}</ref> Groups and Pages can also contribute to clutter when users join and like new ones, respectively, without leaving or unfollowing those in which they are no longer interested.<ref name="eduniverse" />
== Motivations == Digital hoarding stems from a variety of individual traits and habits, corporate conditions, and societal trends: *Many businesses rely on email correspondence for decision-making and formal approvals. As a result, employees often hoard work emails in the event it is required to verify a future decision.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Digital hoarding - a new version of an old psychological challenge |url=https://www.uclahealth.org/news/digital-hoarding-a-new-version-of-an-old-psychological-challenge |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=www.uclahealth.org |language=en}}</ref> *Developments in data storage technology result in digital hoarding as individuals and companies lack a need to optimize storage space.<ref name="PCMag">{{cite web|title=Definition of: e-hoarder|url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/64114/e-hoarder |url-status=live |date=n.d. |work=PCMag |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321161728/https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/64114/e-hoarder |archive-date=2019-03-21}}</ref><ref name="gayle"><!-- Draft paper - was it ever published? -->{{cite web |last=Gatchelian |first=Gayle |title=Hoarding the ethereal: How we have more things (and more problems) but with less clutter |url=http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/mit7/papers/GayleGatchalian-DigitalHoarding.pdf |url-status=dead |date=2011-05-07 |work=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=2014-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224100725/http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/mit7/papers/GayleGatchalian-DigitalHoarding.pdf |archive-date=2015-12-24}}</ref> *The widespread availability and rapid dissemination of open content on the Internet makes it easier for users to obtain and hoard digital media.<ref name=":0" /> *Digital media's lack of physicality make it so they're less likely to be perceived as clutter, making it so digital hoarders do not see the extent of what they own.<ref name=":0" /> *Unlike many physical items, electronic content can take years to decay and often goes unnoticed, so users must consciously choose to delete it.<ref name="networkcomputing">{{cite web |last=Fogarty |first=Kevin |title=Digital Hoarding: Do We Have a Problem? |url=https://www.networkcomputing.com/storage/digital-hoarding-do-we-have-problem/2047649310 |url-status=live |date=2013-01-25 |work=Network Computing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613163818/https://www.networkcomputing.com/storage/digital-hoarding-do-we-have-problem/2047649310 |archive-date=2021-06-13}}</ref>
== Repercussions == Digital hoarding can lead to potential issues:
*Digital clutter can be mentally draining, requiring time and attention. For example, hoarded emails can make an inbox seem overwhelming unless emails are archived when filtered. The user wastes time sifting through excess emails, which can result in lowered employee productivity.<ref name="pro">{{cite web |last=Egan |first=Marsha |date=n.d. |title=Pro: Don't Litter In Your Electronic Yard |url=http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2011/09/e-hoarding_is_unhealthy.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140217230709/http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2011/09/e-hoarding_is_unhealthy.html |archive-date=2014-02-17 |access-date=2014-04-08 |work=Bloomberg Businessweek}}</ref> *Digital hoarding can create an unhealthy attachment to digital content and foster a sort of “media addiction.”<ref name="lifehacker">{{cite web |last=Alan |first=Henry |date=2012-10-04 |title=How to Break Your Media Addiction and Clean Up Your Digital Clutter |url=https://lifehacker.com/5948925/how-to-break-your-media-addiction-and-clean-up-your-digital-clutter |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180118/https://lifehacker.com/5948925/how-to-break-your-media-addiction-and-clean-up-your-digital-clutter |archive-date=2018-02-10 |access-date=2018-02-09 |work=Lifehacker}}</ref> It is often good for one's mental health to let go of useless clutter, and decluttering digital devices can help with decluttering the mind.<ref name="digitaltrends">{{cite web |last=Hill |first=Simon |date=2012-08-23 |title=Is Digital Hoarding Dragging You Down? |url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/is-digital-hoarding-dragging-you-down/#!DgIqw |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502145310/https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/is-digital-hoarding-dragging-you-down/ |archive-date=2017-05-02 |work=Digital Trends}}</ref> *Excessive digital content takes up more hard drive space than it merits, and may even require the addition of extra digital storage to one's computer or mobile phone.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} *Server farms use more electricity as they need more disk drives. The extra load is especially notable in corporate domains.<ref name="forbes">{{cite web |last=Sloane |first=Stanton D. |title=The Problem With Packrats:The High Costs Of Digital Hoarding |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2011/03/25/the-problem-with-packrats-the-high-costs-of-digital-hoarding/ |url-status=live |date=2011-03-25 |work=Forbes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613164908/https://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2011/03/25/the-problem-with-packrats-the-high-costs-of-digital-hoarding/ |archive-date=2021-06-13}}</ref> This adds to an individual's or company's electricity expenses if self hosted and carbon footprint if stored on a server.<ref name="forbes" />
== Positive reasoning == From the few studies that have specifically examined digital hoarding, participants cite their reasoning for saving many digital files is due to the lack of physical space it takes up.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":3" /> Siddick et al. examined carbon and water footprints of data centers located in the United States noting a lack of transparency surrounding the role of data centers in handling data, obscuring the environmental implications of data centers from the public eye.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Siddik |first1=Md Abu Bakar |last2=Shehabi |first2=Arman |last3=Marston |first3=Landon |year=2021 |title=The environmental footprint of data centers in the United States |journal=Environmental Research Letters |volume=16 |issue=6 |page=064017 |bibcode=2021ERL....16f4017S |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/abfba1 |s2cid=235282419 |doi-access=free|hdl=10919/109747 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
== Media coverage == Many American documentary television series depict the struggles of compulsive hoarders, such as ''Hoarding: Buried Alive'' on TLC and ''Hoarders'' on A&E. These shows have popularized awareness of hoarding, showing the consequences of accumulating clutter. However, these programs usually focus on physical hoarding. The WPTV story of Larry Fisher, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a notable exception. This program focused on digital hoarding, depicting Fisher's longstanding refusal to delete any digital content. Instead, Fisher purchased an additional computer every time he ran out of hard drive space.<ref name="WPTV">{{cite web |last=Anfinsen |first=Jason |title=E-hoarding is a new phenomenon that is quickly spreading amongst computer users |url=http://www.wptv.com/news/science-tech/e-hoarding-is-a-new-phenomenon-spreading-like-a-computer-virus-for-users |url-status=dead |date=2014-04-29 |work=WPTV |access-date=2014-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808141115/http://www.wptv.com/news/science-tech/e-hoarding-is-a-new-phenomenon-spreading-like-a-computer-virus-for-users |archive-date=2014-08-08}}</ref> The BBC News story of Washington, D.C., resident Chris Yurista expresses a counterpoint to this perspective. The program portrayed Yurista as a "21st century minimalist" for living with hardly any physical assets, substituting digital goods wherever possible.<ref name="BBC News">{{cite web |last=Danzico |first=Matthew |title=Cult of less: Living out of a hard drive |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10928032 |url-status=live |date=2010-08-16 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203035357/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-10928032 |archive-date=2021-02-03}}</ref>
== Related concepts == '''Digital clutter''' is the term often used to describe the resulting (digital) artifacts of digital hoarding, but it should not be understood as exclusively the result of hoarding. Digital clutter can be created as a side-effect of high occurrences of another user activity, such as the computer desktop icons created through frequent installation of applications. In such a case the clutter does not reflect the user's intent to hoard.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
'''Housekeeping''' is the term often used to refer to the activity by which digital clutter moves out of the 'clutter' designation, either by being thrown away, being organised, or by the recognition of its importance, thus no longer making it part of the 'clutter'.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
'''Gadget hoarding''' is the excessive hoarding of electronic hardware including computers, cellphones, wires and cables, VCR and DVD players, audio equipment, routers, and tablets; it can occur in individuals alongside digital hoarding.<ref>{{cite web |title=Your new disease, America: Compulsive gadget-hoarding |url=https://www.cnet.com/culture/your-new-disease-america-compulsive-gadget-hoarding/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Clayton |first1=Nick |title=Facing reality: Are you a gadget hoarder? |url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20140715-are-you-a-gadget-hoarder}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Gadget hoarding: A growing problem in the Digital Age | website=ABC7 Chicago | date=12 January 2014| url=https://abc7chicago.com/archive/9390213/ | access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=13 December 2013 |title=Are You a Gadget Hoarder? |url=https://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/12/13/are-you-a-gadget-hoarder/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gadget hoarding: When technology runs amok |date=15 May 2014 |url=https://lancasteronline.com/features/gadget-hoarding-when-technology-runs-amok/article_cf52bc7a-dc3a-11e3-9215-0017a43b2370.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=6 January 2014 |title=Growing concern over gadget hoarding |url=https://www.news4jax.com/consumer/2014/01/06/growing-concern-over-gadget-hoarding/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=4 June 2014 |title=Got old gadgets? You may be a hoarder |url=https://venturebeat.com/2014/06/04/got-old-gadgets-you-may-be-a-hoarder/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Organized: Gadget hoarding in our homes |url=https://www.naplesnews.com/lifestyle/organized-gadget-hoarding-in-our-homes-ep-788403380-331699191.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hoarding Old, Unused Electronics |url=https://www.wcrecycler.com/blog/dont-be-guilty-of-hoarding-old-unused-electronics}}</ref>{{refbomb|date=February 2026}}
== See also == * Harold T. Martin III – convicted of stealing 50 terabytes of data from the National Security Agency (NSA) with an alleged motive of digital hoarding. * Compulsive hoarding * Web archiving * Digital preservation * M-disc
== References == {{reflist|2}}
== Further reading == * {{cite book | title = Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age | first=Viktor | last=Mayer-Schönberger | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton | year=2010 | isbn=978-0691150369}}
Category:Compulsive hoarding Category:Computing and society Category:Digital media use and mental health