About 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are unavailable now and 8% of pages from 2023 are unavailable; 23% of news pages have at least one broken link
Readers, researchers and journalists face less reliable access to older web sources: roughly 38% of pages observed in 2013 are no longer available, while even 2023 pages show an 8% loss rate.
News articles are immediately vulnerable to citation decay, with 23% containing at least one broken link.
Second-order effects
Publishers and organizations that depend on external references have a stronger incentive to monitor links and preserve copies of material they cite, rather than treating publication as the endpoint.
As live URLs become less dependable evidence, archives and durable-reference systems become more important to newsroom research and to readers trying to verify claims.
Third-order effects
If disappearance continues across both older and recent pages, the open web’s role as a persistent public record weakens; historical research increasingly depends on preservation institutions rather than original publishers.
The pattern points to a durable tension between a web built for continual change and the need for stable, auditable citations in news and public knowledge.
The trend: Link rot is turning web preservation and citation resilience from a niche archival concern into a core requirement for trustworthy digital publishing.
@bruces@mastodon.social
@bruces@mastodon.social on mastodon
*Link rot and digital decay report. #deadmedia — “54% of Wikipedia pages contain at least one link that points to a page that no longer exists,” etc etc — https://www.pewresearch.org/ ...
@cbdawson.bsky.social
Cian on bluesky
A few thoughts. — In many cases (but not all) we *should* be removing outdated or superseded content. Leaving it online can cause confusion + clutter for users looking for current info. — For your important science bits, use persistent IDs! Use for all sharing, citations, t…
@sbmeunier
Sebastien Meunier on x
Feels normal. A lot of content is garbage and some becomes obsolete as well. People die too
@pewresearch
@pewresearch on x
23% of news webpages contain at least one broken link. Site traffic doesn't change this likelihood: news sites with a high level of site traffic and those with less are about equally likely to contain broken links. https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... [image]
@internetarchive
@internetarchive on x
Why is the @waybackmachine so important for preserving our digital culture? According to new analysis from @pewresearch: ❌ 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are no longer accessible ❌ 23% of news webpages contain at least one broken link 🔗⤵️ https://www.pewresearch.org/ ...
@andybeard
Andy Beard on x
Interesting link rot and content decay research from @pewinternet The data they used for web is from October 2023 and for X a sample was collected from the streaming API 1 year old. https://www.pewresearch.org/ ...
@vinbrown
Vincent Brown on x
Nearly 1-in-5 tweets are no longer publicly visible on the site just months after being posted. Most tweets that are removed from the site tend to disappear soon after being posted. 1% of tweets are removed within one hour 3% within a day 10% within a week 15% within a month
@mikko
@mikko on x
The mankind's knowledge lasted better when it was printed on paper. 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are no longer accessible. https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... [image]
r/DataHoarder
r on reddit
38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are no longer accessible a decade later