Q. My photos posted on Instagram (along with my captions) function like a visual diary of my years. Is there a safe way to preserve them — off my phone, maybe even to transfer them to hard copy? I would be devastated if they disappeared because of hacking, changes in the program, my account ending, etc.

A. The horror of a hacked, crashed or deleted social media account can mean losing years of personal memories. But, as with data stored locally on your computer, backing it all up somewhere else can give you peace of mind. Even if you are not too worried about being hacked, you may want to save a copy of your account’s contents if you decide to quit the service, the company goes out of business or changes to its terms of service agreement are not to your liking.