Digital Gardens- Be Your Own Director

I really like the concept of digital gardens, for how they support creators’ independence and ownership, and represent the development of content rather than only the end product. With a social media page on a popular platform like Instagram, all the development of the platform itself is already done, and what’s left is the content users must produce to fill their pre-formatted profile. This preformatted platform denies users the process of creating something that is wholly their own, removing the “public learning” aspect of platform design and content creation that the MIT article references, and prevents their ownership of the platform housing their work. The growth and change that the article emphasizes as an element of digital gardens also differs from a social media page, which in the era of influencers and monetized content creation requires each post to be a finished product, ready to be consumed. The need for content consumption on social media, particularly by creators making a career off their posts, likely contributes to the proliferation of misinformation spread online, and burnout experienced by creators. Digital gardens seem to be a return to what social media was before it was so ubiquitous and monetized; an informal, communal space to share your thoughts and interests. MySpace is often credited as the beginning of social media as we have come to know it, but even that platform was similar to the personalized nature of digital gardens, offering space for users to document their favourite song and interests on such a small-scale platform. The difference between original incarnations of social media and digital gardens is still that the latter often lacks a community or audience, at least according to the MIT article: “With digital gardening, you’re talking to yourself. You focus on what you want to cultivate over time.” Since I’ve started my website, I’ve intended it to be a learning process, for web design and cultivating what kind of content I want to make. I’m not seeking a large audience, especially not this early in my blogging experience, and this conceptualization of digital gardening really fits my vision of my website as a space for me, to express my thoughts in the same vein as a DIY zine would. I’ve noticed that some of my peers have been making content that simply shares their opinions and takes an informal approach, and I think many people could benefit from creating a space that they own and develop from the ground up, where they can express themselves in a way that is open to the public yet unconcerned with external validation or asserting authority.