Hoarding involves the excessive accumulation of physical objects and a persistent reluctance to let go. Recently, hoarding has emerged as a subject of extensive psychological interest. Hoarding disorder is a recognized mental health condition, with profound effects on individuals and their loved ones.
In the era of technology, digital clutter is becoming an increasing problem in our lives. The surge in emails we receive, the transition from paper to digital documents for personal admin, and the expanding capacity to store photos and videos have all led to a significant increase in the volume of digital files we keep.
Digital hoarding has been defined as “the accumulation of digital files to the point of loss of perspective, which eventually results in stress and disorganisation." Digital hoarders often amass substantial volumes of digital content, struggling with the organization and disposal of their extensive files.
While psychological research into digital hoarding has received less attention than physical hoarding, psychologists are beginning to investigate and understand this emerging phenomenon. Importantly, researchers have described our personal data tendencies as sitting on a spectrum, ranging from digital minimalism to digital hoarding.
Early work into digital hoarding has mainly focussed on the workplace. Research on digital hoarding behaviours in the workplace has found that hoarding is common, and often reflects the work demands associated with data protection.
Digital hoarding poses a number of risks to organisations. The prevalence of digital clutter can adversely affect data management strategies, storage costs, productivity, and knowledge management. There are also security risks, especially concerning personally identifiable data. Digital hoarders are less inclined to differentiate between valuable and mundane information, and might compromise the security of sensitive data by storing it indiscriminately.
The Hoarding Research Group at Northumbria University has begun to investigate digital hoarding through the lens of personal data management. It has developed the Digital Behaviours for Personal Use Questionnaire and the Digital Hoarding Questionnaire, assessing the two key components of digital hoarding: accumulating digital files and difficulty deleting. Those who report higher levels of digital hoarding are more likely to have difficulty finding files and experience distress over the potential loss of digital content.
Excessive digital clutter on our personal devices can lead to increased feelings of stress and anxiety, ultimately harming well-being. Digital hoarding can compromise effective personal data management, elevating the risk of fraud and cybersecurity breaches.
Digital hoarding also raises significant sustainability concerns. In 2021, a study from the Institution of Engineering and Technology on Dirty Data estimated that digitally storing unwanted photos generates 10.6kg of CO2 in annual emissions per U.K. adult.
Overall, digital hoarding poses a number of risks to your work, cybersecurity, personal well-being, and environmental sustainability. Recognizing the following traits of a digital hoarder can aid in understanding and enhancing your approach to managing data effectively.
1. You accumulate digital files easily, even if unimportant. This is likely to involve an overflowing inbox crammed with endless emails, accumulating folders of digital photos left largely untouched, or stockpiling unnecessary administrative files, all rationalized by the slim chance you may actually need them in the future.
2. You’re reluctant to delete unused files. Once digital hoarders have amassed large quantities of digital clutter, they often find it difficult to delete, even when these files are unused and have little past, present or future relevance.
There's a common misconception that digital data exists ethereally, nestled in the cloud without occupying physical space or requiring energy to store.
Improving our understanding of what a data center is may help to encourage digital hoarders to be more mindful when deciding what digital data to accumulate and retain.
3. You find files difficult to locate. An obvious consequence of increased quantities of personal digital data is that it becomes harder to organize.
We’ve all rolled our eyes at people who insist they have ‘a system’ for navigating their chaotic room, or that keeping thousands of unfiled emails in their inbox somehow makes it easier to retrieve information when needed.
It is true that search and locate technologies are making it easier to find photos and documents when required, but these functions have their limits. The larger the quantities of data we hold on to, the more difficult it is to manage, leading to stress, reduced efficiency, and heightened cybersecurity vulnerability.
4. You feel emotionally attached to your files. Digital hoarders are more likely to feel an emotional attachment to the files they keep. This is perfectly understandable when referring to a memorable holiday snap, your final college thesis, or a video of your child’s first steps. But can we reasonably expect to digitally capture all of life’s important moments? Holding on to digital content that now holds minimal purpose or meaning can ultimately be damaging.
5. You save files across multiple devices and platforms. Another defining trait of a digital hoarder is their tendency to excessively save and share digital files across various devices and platforms.
These habits might involve emailing oneself and others to transfer files in an attempt to secure them. These practices lead to the duplication of digital files, creating numerous versions stored across personal devices and cloud storage services. This scattered approach results in inefficient data management, wasteful duplication, and increased security vulnerabilities.
The data management tendencies of a digital hoarder can negatively impact personal well-being. However, this isn't to say that people should purge their files and data with the aim of eliminating their digital footprint entirely.
We are right to embrace the advantages of technological advancements, enabling us to digitize and efficiently store our files. The benefits of increased digital data storage are evident, replacing past practices where copious amounts of old paper records would occupy our spare rooms indefinitely, signifying a shift from wasteful practices to more efficient ones.
Ultimately, we each need to be mindful of where our data management practices sit on the spectrum, from digital minimalism to digital hoarding. A self-reflective assessment of our own digital behaviours may lead us to reduce stress, minimize the threats to our cybersecurity, and lessen potential harm to the environment.
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