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| 1 | #+date: <2025-10-24 Fri 19:41:41> | |
| 2 | #+title: Digital Garden | |
| 3 | #+description: A post dedicated to digital gardens, an online space for personal knowledge management, creative exploration, and reflection. | |
| 4 | #+slug: digital-garden | |
| 5 | ||
| 6 | * What's a Digital Garden? | |
| 7 | ||
| 8 | #+caption: Org Roam Digital Garden | |
| 9 | [[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251024-digital-garden/orgroam.png]] | |
| 10 | ||
| 11 | A digital garden is a personal space, just for you. It could serve any number of | |
| 12 | purposes, which I'll get into later, but the key is that it serves a specific | |
| 13 | purpose for yourself. | |
| 14 | ||
| 15 | The primary features of a digital garden, as opposed to a personal website or | |
| 16 | blog, is that it is not inherently structured in a strict manner, it may follow | |
| 17 | a free form structure, it may look like a work-in-progress wiki. | |
| 18 | ||
| 19 | At the end of the day, it defines a web page where any type of content exists | |
| 20 | and the author takes time and care to prune it in a specific manner. | |
| 21 | ||
| 22 | * Historical Context | |
| 23 | ||
| 24 | A lot of people talk about [[https://www.eastgate.com/garden/Enter.html][Hypertext Gardens: Delightful Vistas]] by Mark | |
| 25 | Bernstein as the first instance of this phrase on the internet. And while this | |
| 26 | may be true, I want to take a step further back. | |
| 27 | ||
| 28 | Have you heard of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex][Memex]]? This hypothetical device was described in Vannevar | |
| 29 | Bush's 1945 article "As We May Think". He envisioned a device that would be able | |
| 30 | to store all of a person's information for them - books, records, and | |
| 31 | communications. The person could then reference the Memex for any information | |
| 32 | and be guided to the correct spot. Essentially, it would the 1940's version of a | |
| 33 | mind mapping or personal knowledge system. | |
| 34 | ||
| 35 | From the Memex to Hypertext Gardens to mind maps to other knowledge management | |
| 36 | systems, humans seem intent on constantly reinventing the art of information | |
| 37 | organization. | |
| 38 | ||
| 39 | The modern web is the result of 30+ years of redesigning the web to streamline | |
| 40 | information. However, in this refinement, we've lost the art and beauty of | |
| 41 | personal websites where people would dump all of the information relevant to | |
| 42 | themselves. | |
| 43 | ||
| 44 | Digital Gardens are a movement to bring these personal websites back and present | |
| 45 | them in a personalized fashion. | |
| 46 | ||
| 47 | * Common Uses | |
| 48 | ||
| 49 | Before I get into /how/ to build a digital garden, I want to touch on the | |
| 50 | potential uses. Everyone has their own reason for building a website and digital | |
| 51 | gardens are no exception. | |
| 52 | ||
| 53 | You may want to build a digital garden for any number of reasons: | |
| 54 | ||
| 55 | - Knowledge management | |
| 56 | - Creative exploration | |
| 57 | - Collaborative learning | |
| 58 | - Personal reflection | |
| 59 | - Artistic expression | |
| 60 | - Data hoarding | |
| 61 | - Social interaction | |
| 62 | ||
| 63 | * How to Build Your Own Garden | |
| 64 | ||
| 65 | If you do want to create your own digital garden, you can get started with a few | |
| 66 | easy steps: | |
| 67 | ||
| 68 | 1. *Choose a platform*: You can host a website for free on platforms like GitHub | |
| 69 | or use a more note-taking platform like Notion or Obsidian. | |
| 70 | 2. *Set Up the Structure*: Decide how you want to organize your content. Remember | |
| 71 | the purpose of a digital garden! Plant all of the information you care about | |
| 72 | and then work to prune and clean them up as they grow. | |
| 73 | 3. *Start with Your Interests*: A digital garden should reflect yourself. Find | |
| 74 | your passions and start from there. | |
| 75 | 4. *Regular Updates*: A garden won't grow if you ignore it. Remember to check in | |
| 76 | and think if you want to add more, prune things out, or move things around. | |
| 77 | 5. *Interlinking Ideas*: Like plants and ecosystems, a digital garden should link | |
| 78 | together. You may use tags or links to connect items on your own site or | |
| 79 | perhaps includes links or lists to other gardens you enjoy. | |
| 80 | ||
| 81 | By far the most important piece here is regular updates. You can always fix or | |
| 82 | change things, but the garden won't grow if you don't contribute to it. | |
| 83 | ||
| 84 | * Additional Suggestions | |
| 85 | ||
| 86 | Digital gardens are such an easy way to manage your knowledge and unleash your | |
| 87 | creativity. Instead of sticking to the usual blog format, you get a space where | |
| 88 | your ideas can grow and change over time. Whether you want to document what | |
| 89 | you’re learning, share thoughts with others, or just reflect on your journey, a | |
| 90 | digital garden can be the perfect tool. | |
| 91 | ||
| 92 | I strongly encourage you to create your own today, even if it starts as private | |
| 93 | notes instead of a website! Nothing is ever too small and the point of a garden | |
| 94 | isn't to be perfect, but to be a place where you can experiment and have fun. | |