Hop Back in Time Digitally
My name is Jade and I’m a Time Hop Addict.
We all have that urge. The urge to reminisce and re-connect with past moments. It’s natural to have those quiet times in life every now and then, where we look through old pictures or even just sit back and recall old memories.
But it’s surprising how much our memories can fade, even our favourite ones. Pictures help us to remember; they can arouse memories that we thought we’d lost and evoke deep emotions we’d felt at the exact moment the camera stopped time.
Social media like Facebook is a treasure chest of memories, holding memories in the form of status updates, pictures and videos. But taking the time to go through the years of updates and pictures is a timely process that many of us wouldn’t even think to do.
That’s why new app Time Hop is such a godsend. The app links to your social media pages and works as a personal digital time capsule, offering daily updates on what you posted or pictures you were tagged in one year ago today, two years ago today – up to seven years ago.
The concept is brilliant, yet simple and massively addictive. I find myself checking the app as soon as I wake up every day.
The first Time Hop update I saw caused instant embarrassment but it was a status from seven years ago, when I was the tender age of 16. The days of lazy text talk. Using abbreviations like ‘L8r’, ‘4 U’ and ‘girlz’ alongside images of myself wearing clothes I had forgotten existed and a face caked in foundation. I felt like I was reading a stranger’s page, not my own. It really struck home at that moment how much you change and develop as a person in those younger years.
The majority of statuses and picture updates made me feel happy memories however – and a chance to re-live the good times at my high school prom, days out at theme parks with friends and my first real holiday without parents.
I’ve found myself sending the updates and pictures to old friends that I haven’t spoken to in years, rekindling friendships, having lots of laughs and just generally enjoying that renewed sense of nostalgia.
There’s a bittersweet nature to Time Hop – feelings of sadness from viewing old updates; moments with family members that are no longer here or with old friends that relationship’s ended on a bad note, triggering feelings of regret. And also that common feeling that life is just passing by far too quickly.
Although the daily updates have provoked mixed emotions, it’s been lovely to reminisce. Time Hop has allowed me to step back and watch how I’ve grown up and established myself as a person. It’s also come in handy to remind me of birthdays and events that slipped my mind this year…
Give it a go – but write off a few days because it’s a huge time sink
Want more information? Contact us here