What are digital gardens? And why you might consider creating one
We are allowed to explore new ways of being in the world…including digital worlds.
In the crowded and fast-paced world of social media, sharing something meaningful often feels like being in a relentless race to stay relevant amidst a never-ending stream of information. Each post, like a poster on an ever-changing algorithmic-infused wall, competes for attention in an ever-changing landscape.
I’ve become curious about the concept of digital gardens.
A digital garden is a space for evolving thoughts, interests, and learnings. It is a website where you can can curate and share a continuously updated collection of things you’d like to share, in a way that grows and changes over time. One unique feature of digital gardens is that it can exist in a way that is independent of the constraints of social media algorithms. Also, unlike many popular social media platforms, you can actually link ideas together, creating a larger, interconnected web over time.
The idea of a digital garden can be traced back the 90s, with Mark Bernstein's "hypertext garden," highlighting the interconnected nature of information. Tanya Basu, in the 2020 MIT Technology Review article, describes digital gardens as personal, evolving online spaces. They offer a refreshing alternative to the structured and fleeting nature of mainstream social media platforms. In these gardens, your thoughts and ideas can intertwine and grow in a way that's uniquely yours.
For me, the allure of digital gardens lies in their capacity for personalization and growth. It's about creating a space for learning, for connecting with others around ideas you care about, and for sharing those ideas in a way that transcends the ephemeral nature of algorithm-driven platforms.
I think that these “gardens” are ideal for those seeking a low-pressure outlet to share what they might normally share on social media. Unlike the expectations of social media, digital gardens offer a relaxed environment to explore and share things without the constant pressure of algorithms and endless feeds designed by someone else. Just like a garden, it is a space that can grow slowly over time and can become an environment for deeper engagement rather than the fleeting interactions common on many social platforms.
If you find the idea of having to produce regular content creation daunting but you still like to create or curate, digital gardens might be of interest to you. They can be informal and their evolving nature relieves the pressure of producing polished posts. You don't need technical skills or a perfect system to start. Even a simple blog, with links connecting various posts, can be the seed of your garden. Over time, this garden will grow, reflecting your journey of learning and exploration.
It's important to note that digital gardens don’t have to be about sharing your entire life. They are about curating and sharing links to things that interest you, from articles to Wikipedia pages, creating a web of knowledge that informs and supports others. I also don’t think that digital gardens have to replace other platforms, but in a time where algorithmic dominance shapes our online experience, it can be valuable to have a space that isn’t reliant on social media metrics.
The concept of digital gardens might not be everywhere, but there is potential for return of the website. As Tom Critchlow, a long-time digital gardener, notes, the value of these spaces isn't in their popularity but in the personal growth and connections they foster. Whether you're an artist, a poet, a thinker, or someone looking to have a place to share or connect ideas, a digital garden offers a space to cultivate an environment away from the constraints of social media.
It’s not that I think that digital gardens will solve everything. I also think there are a lot of people who may say, “well, I just need to spend less time online so why add something else?” — I used to think this way — and perhaps it will work for others— but it didn’t work for me. Also, I happen to enjoy various aspects of digital experiences because it allows me to create in a way that is not always feasible in the physical world. Also, I currently use social media for the work I do so deleting all of the apps isn’t something I’m trying to do right now.
However, creating alternatives is a way to negotiate a different kind of relationship with digital life and reduce dependence on algorithm-driven platforms. Because no matter how many social media profiles are created and how many series of posts are shared in places like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, they are not currently designed for human curation, but for someone’s algorithm to curate it all for us. In my own life, algorithmic feeds have actually had benefits, however, I do not believe they are the only way of connecting people and connecting ideas.
If you find any of this interesting, I’ve put some links below and plan to share more of what I've created here, and also, in other spaces. Ultimately, I am interested in how a space like a digital garden cannot only improve the online experience, but what it can reveal about our inherent need to express and contribute in ways that aren't constrained by predefined formats. My personal goal is to have a few different digital gardens for different things and also share more about the concept of creating them.
For me, this is a practice of not just taking what comes out of the box when it comes it digital life. We are allowed to tinker. We are allowed to explore. We are allowed to explore new ways of being in the world…including digital worlds.
More to come,
Morgan Harper Nichols
Further reading:
Digital Gardening for Non-Technical Folks by Maggie Appleton
My blog is a digital garden, not a blog by Joel Hooks
How the blog broke the web by Amy Hoy
Building a Digital Garden by Tom Critchlow