Why not a blog?
For a long time I wanted to create a blog, but it was very hard for me. I wanted to share stuff in a less structured and rigid way, and sometimes I felt like if I didn't have a fully-formed article or post, then I couldn't share it.
I tried creating a portfolio / blog for professional stuff, and then I realized:
- Def didn't want to share my personal thoughts with a bunch of people that I've worked with / could work with / am working with
- Sometimes we humans have this bias and i didn't want people to judge me in a professional environment BEFORE knowing me personally whatsoever. I feel like this was inevitable, and I didn't want to deal with it.
- I didn't want to write ONLY about tech stuff, and then I didn't want to share personal stuff there.
^ If we've worked together, and you're reading this, I want you to know I consider you a friend (and or pretty chill), and I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the other people.
What is a digital garden?
Ok, so I won't try to go into too many details here, but you know how when you have a garden, or a farm, or a piece of land (think of minecraft, like when you plant wheat...this can work for our imaginary purposes) and then you can plant seeds and watch them grow over time? Alright, a digital garden is like that, but for ideas, knowledge, and everything in between.
When I first read about digital gardens1, I immediatly thought: "this is it". This is what I want to build. It's organic, my ideas are not super polished, and I can share them in a way that is more natural. I can talk about tech, my daily life, thoughts, lame advice, share my pics, share recipes, etc.
A digital garden doesn't have to be perfect. That's the beautiful thing about it.
It transforms itself over time. I invite you over to my garden, and maybe you'll find something interesting, or maybe you'll find a bunch of weeds. And that's ok! I'm not trying to sell you anything, or to make you think a certain way. I'm just sharing my thoughts, and I'm happy to have you here.
Why did I create a digital garden?
Apart from all the things I've just mentioned, I also wanted to have a place on the internet created by me, for me.
Because I don't really care about building a personal brand, or having many people read my thoughts, plus I am not trying to get famous or rich with this thing, I can be free. I can redesign this space however I like, share pics, books, songs, tech stuff, and most importantly, have full control of my own website and its contents.
The tipping point
I've been thinking about this for a while, but the tipping point was when I realized how much I was using my phone and how much I hate social media.
I am tired the ads, tired of people sharing stuff that I don't care about. I don't want zucc to know more about me than I do. I don't want to be tracked. I don't want my data to be sold to other companies for profit.
I started to feel like I was in an echo chamber of bad news and infinite ads, and I didn't want to be there. Oh, also...it was fucking boring! I created my social media accounts to stay in touch with my closest friends, to see updates of their lives if any. What is this AI picture of jesus doing in my feed? I didn't ask for this.
I thought, if I'm so uncomfortable with this, why don't I just create my own space? so yeah, here we are.
So what now?
I will be posting here once in a while, and treat it as my second brain. I already deactivated my instagram account, and will share my pics here instead. As for facebook, I plan on deactivating it soon as well.
If we know each other IRL you can always text me or call me.
If you want to know more about digital gardens I recommend the following links:
Make sure to check out Maggie Appleton's article1 as well!
I hope to see more digital gardens out there, and I hope you enjoy your stay here.
1: Maggie Appleton - A Brief History & Ethos of the Digital Garden