Digital waste and family archives: Russians are increasingly deleting memes but regret photos.

      The habits of Russians in dealing with digital content turned out to be largely spontaneous and emotional. A survey conducted among readers of the technology section showed that only a third of users check the contents of their smartphones at least once a week. The rest prefer not to touch files as long as the device is functioning normally.

      Every fourth person (29%) remembers to clean up only at a critical moment — when free space is almost gone. And 13% wait for the first signs of system slowdown. Thus, systematic organization of memory remains more of an exception than a rule.

      So, what is most often sent to the trash? The top spot is taken by "failed shots" (20% of responses). Next come screenshots along with duplicate photos (17%) and memes from messengers (another 17%). Old videos and documents are deleted by only 10% of respondents — they try to keep them.

      Interestingly, before cleaning, the majority of users (58%) prefer digital storage methods over physical media. The most popular method is sending files to themselves via email or messengers, which 34% do. Another 24% transfer data to cloud services, including Mail. For comparison: 20% use flash drives, and 22% use external hard drives.

      The strongest attachment is to personal photos: 24% of Russians admitted that deleting pictures is the hardest. Another 20% find it painful to part with family and "travel" videos. According to analysts, the increase in shooting quality and the limited capacity of built-in memory force users to seek a balance between order on the device and the preservation of cherished files. And, judging by the data, this balance is increasingly achieved not by buying a new flash drive, but by changing the storage strategy itself.