I couldn't find a writeup covering this subject in the Everything FAQ, so here goes my attempt:
While browsing through Everything2, you will notice a great number of writeups created in or around November 13, 1999. You might wonder what inspired such an unprecedented noding spree on that particular day, but if you know your Everything History, you'll be aware that these nodes are the result of a mass import of content from the original Everything at everything.blockstackers.org/ everything.slashdot.org.
When I stumbled back into Everything after a long absence, I discovered that the once-bustling hub had become an eerie ghost town. A couple of sad-eyed old hacks propped up the bar. "Where is everybody?" I enquired. "www.everything2.com" was the only answer.
So, after quickly visiting my nodes, and discovering that they were still in place, I ventured over to the new address. I was received at first as a Guest User, but I thought I'd try and log in, to see if anybody remembered me. Well, I entered my username and password, and it was just like old times, except for the fact that it was radically different. I checked out my home node, and there was my terse little sentence about myself. I searched for my writeups, and they were all there, although now datestamped for various times on November 13. Some of them had even acquired more than one response.
In short, the system remembered me. I was touched.
However, for every noder like myself who found his way back into the fold, there must be a dozen who never returned. Their user accounts are still being kept warm by E2, and their writeups are still available. However, until they return, their "last logged-in" will show "never", and you won't get much response if you try to /msg them. Eventually, some of these users will have all of their writeups nuked for irrelevance or incandescence, and their accounts themselves destroyed. Most accounts, however, will remain in place, faithfully awaiting their owner's return. | 
