the potential trauma of "on this day"

Lauren Goode on I Called Off My Wedding. The Internet Will Never Forget - now that the Internet is a memory-aid for so many of us - and specifically, via tools on social media that has its own agenda for keeping people engaged - the potential for opening up old wounds is huge.

A lot of the topic is "On This Day", which is a common way to review old times when using a digital memory keeper. I've had a This Day in Kirkstory feature on my website for a long time. (Most of my memories, even the potential painful ones, have the analgesic of nostalgia.)

Thinking about it, the personal "On This Date" feature is kind of new and weird! I guess birthdays have always had a bit of it, and newspapers have long had "this date in history" features, but when used as a larger cross-section of life, the arbitrary nature of it emerges. It really leans into the cyclical / seasonal nature of life. Why should July 8ths across a life otherwise be seen as having stuff in common?

(Interestingly, Apple's "Memories" feature doesn't seem stuck in that rut. It keeps its cards pretty close to its chest in how it decides to curate things.)