1. A method of efficiently managing storage in a distributed network having a plurality of connected nodes comprising the steps of: determining when a certain file storage parameter exceeds a pruning threshold; and performing a pruning cycle including: (a) identifying the content components associated with the storage; (b) selectively pruning the content components based at least in part on usage statistics so that the file storage parameter is reduced to below the pruning threshold; and (c) updating metadata associated with the content components to reflect the updated storage system parameters.