Not everything happens at lightning speed on the internet.  There are websites out there that have the calm of a garden, spaces that invite you to sit down, read slowly, and then go back and read again, reflect, and explore creativity.  These spaces are digital gardens, and they’ve started a new trend on the web.  ‘Slow’ is officially in.

They are very similar to blogs, but they aren’t necessarily about what’s going on in the world a the moment.  In digital gardens, the content is not packaged for the reader’s consumption.  It may consist of musings that never reach a final destination.  Digital gardens are hard to define, but they are definitely worth a look because they will provoke a reaction in you.

Connections by Finsa has made a list of some of the most talked-about digital gardens around.

 

Maggie Appleton

This artistic director and illustrator compiles notes, preferences, and the sources she works worth in a digital garden on her website that has been put together in a very clean style peppered with small, coloured icons.

 

Tom Critchlow

This digital marketing consultant, who previously worked for Google, is obsessed with different ways of creating content on the internet, something he admits in the biography on his website.  He has brought this obsession into his digital garden, where he has gathered all his interesting thoughts about these topics.

 

Amanda Pinsker

This well-known designer has created a small oasis on her website where she lists the books she has read and where she read them, as well as short reflections about the impressions they make on her.

 

Mark Bernstein

This designer and product manager from Eastgate Systems is credited with having kick-started the digital garden trend more than twenty years ago.  On his page, he continues to publish everything that crosses his mind, from the most ordinary thoughts to profound reflections.

 

Shawn Wang

Like his colleagues, Wang has spent most of his career to developing new online products and writing code, but what’s really special about his own digital garden is that it comes with an instruction manual so that we know what we should (and should not) expect from this type of space.  This is particularly helpful for those that are struggling to understand what digital gardens really are.