A digital garden is a personal online space that sits between a private notebook and a public blog, where individuals cultivate and share their evolving thoughts, ideas, and knowledge. Unlike traditional blogs that present polished, time-stamped articles, digital gardens embrace a more organic, work-in-progress approach to sharing knowledge.
Core Characteristics
Digital gardens function as evergreen collections where content is continuously revised, updated, and interconnected rather than published once and left to decay. They organize information through bi-directional linking and internal connections rather than chronological order, creating trails of ideas that readers can follow based on interest rather than publication date.
The content in digital gardens exists in various stages of development – some notes are mere seedlings (early thoughts), others are budding (developing ideas), and some are fully grown evergreens (mature concepts). This work-in-progress nature allows gardeners to share incomplete thoughts, questions without answers, and evolving understanding without the pressure of perfection.
Philosophy and Approach
Digital gardening represents a middle ground between chaos and cultivation. It’s less performative than traditional blogging but more intentional than social media streams. The approach emphasizes building personal knowledge over time rather than engaging in quick conversations or producing highly polished content.
Digital gardens embrace slow time and cyclical growth, rejecting the fast-paced, chronological feeds that dominate most social networks. They value iterative learning and allow gardeners to adapt and evolve their thinking publicly. This creates what some describe as a “captain’s log” approach – more personal documentation than broadcast communication.
Content and Structure
The metaphor extends throughout the gardening process. Seeds represent the initial content contributed by gardeners, while gardeners are the users who tend and grow their digital spaces. The soil consists of the framework and design system, supported by elements that promote growth like the values and intentions guiding the garden.
Digital gardens can contain diverse content types including book notes, philosophical reflections, creative projects, reading lists, and personal observations. Some gardeners organize their content using nature-inspired terminology – for example, “Clouds” for notes from external sources, “Drops” for individual insights, and “Plants” for fully developed ideas.
Community and Values
Modern digital gardens often emphasize pluralism, interdependence, and sustainability. They’re designed to value multiple contributors and reject hierarchical structures, instead fostering consensual care and mutual support. Many digital gardeners connect through linking to other gardens or gathering in communities to share techniques and inspiration.
The movement represents a return to the early internet’s exploration-based navigation, where content was organized by topic and interest rather than algorithmic feeds. Digital gardens prioritize wonder and discovery, creating spaces where both gardeners and visitors can be surprised and delighted by unexpected connections and ideas.