Since blogs “died” (they’re coming back!), the internet has become a hellhole for all types of commercialised content creation. Everything is optimised for capitalism. Social media networks aren’t social, they are data mining operations which seek to pit people against each other.1 Even when you’re just searching for a concept or how to achieve a specific goal, you are bombarded with irrelevant ads and generated bullshit.
Personal blogs and so-called digital gardens are an antidote to this rush of information that is thrown at us and the ways we are expected to commodify our life. They are an act of resistance against “content”, noise created for the sole purpose of pleasing the algorithm. They are a get-together for like-minded people who strive for diversity and mindfulness, for honest connection and intimacy. People who care more about sharing what they enjoy than selling their soul.
- Caveats: It’s not always possible for those who don’t want to get
- Keywords: digital-garden
- Source: A Brief History and Ethos of the Digital Garden
- See:
- managing-information-is-one-of-the-key-issues-of-todays-society
- This is a way to overcome information overwhelm. As Bob Doto says, there needs to be an off-ramp for your on-ramp.
- friction-leads-to-improvement
- Writing for others is friction. Publishing your notes can help you make more sense of your ideas and different concepts by forcing you to be concise and concrete.
- visions-are-shared-mental-images
- They are a vision of a better future. They are footed in a desire for community.
- schooling-is-a-tool-of-capitalism
- It’s a tool against capitalism! Subversion!
- managing-information-is-one-of-the-key-issues-of-todays-society
Footnotes
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Bob Doto regularly speaks about this and I wholeheartedly agree. See Social Media is a Psychosis on YouTube. ↩