The term “hypertext garden” was first used by Mark Bernstein and later popularized by writers and web developers as “a personal website that is a constantly evolving collection of ideas and projects, where you can plant and cultivate your thoughts.” The concept of a digital garden is inspired by a traditional garden, where plants and flowers are tended to and allowed to grow and evolve. Digital gardens are intended to be a place where people can explore their interests and ideas and share them with others openly and organically.
Lacking the chronological order usually employed by blogs and social media, digital gardens are organized by topic. This allows ideas to be connected together in context, creating a space for one’s own digital knowledge in a way that can grow and evolve over time. Alexis Rondeau called this a long-term ecosystem for ideas.