Архівування віртуальної культури: проблеми, виклики та стратегії збереження

The aim of the article is to analyse problems and challenges of archiving virtual culture, including social networks, game worlds, digital art, VR/AR and AI-generated content, with an emphasis on their ephemerality and cultural value; to assess preservation approaches within an interdisciplinary culturological context. Results. It is found that a “digital dark age” problem is a real and inevitable challenge for modern cultural studies. A rapid flow of the digital content, its dependence on commercial platforms and technical obsolescence lead to a systematic data loss, confirmed by numerous examples of disappearing websites, online communities and game artifacts. This study proves that traditional archiving methods are insufficient for preserving the dynamic and interactive virtual culture. The scientific novelty grounds on the comprehensive culturological analysis of the “digital dark age” issue, which views digital artifacts as a full-fledged part of modern cultural heritage. The research grounds that the loss of digital data is not only a technical problem but also a process of destruction of social memory and societal values, which requires appliance of an interdisciplinary approach to their preservation. It is offered to consider the archiving of virtual culture as a fundamental mission of modern humanities, which involves a synthesis of cultural studies, information technologies, and social anthropology. Conclusions. The necessity in expanding the concept of “cultural heritage” and applying innovative approaches to its preservation is proved. The interdisciplinary models are promising: they combine blockchain, decentralised storage and active participation of user communities. Preventing the “digital dark age” requires not only technological solutions but also a rethinking of responsibility for preserving a unique evidence of creativity and collective memory of modernity.