### Explanation
Content on social media platforms and websites is frequently copied and archived through various means:
- **Automated archival**: Services like web.archive.org systematically preserve web content
- **Business indexing**: Companies collect and monetize content through advertising, data mining, and resale to third parties
- **Manual copying**: Users can manually save and repost content across platforms
- **Content aggregation**: Third-party services that collect and mirror content from multiple sources
This content persistence creates digital footprints that can reveal patterns, including:
- Similar writing styles across platforms
- Reposted content across accounts
- Networks of connected accounts (e.g. botnets)
- Historical versions of modified/deleted content
### Examples
- [Reflections as the Internet Archive turns 25](https://blog.archive.org/2021/07/21/reflections-as-the-internet-archive-turns-25/)
- [How does Google Cache Work & How to Leverage it for SEO: Tips & FAQs](https://www.ranktracker.com/blog/how-does-google-cache-work-how-to-leverage-it-for-seo-tips-fa-qs/)
### Types
- technical
- business
### See also
- [[SOWEL-3. Creating Content]]
### Typical techniques
- [[SOTL-7.1. Check Archives]]
- [[SOTL-7.2. Check Caches]]
- [[SOTL-7.3. Check Aggregators And Mirrors]]
- [[SOTL-7.4. Conduct Reverse Image Search]]