Welcome to my Digital Garden 🌿

I used to run a blog in the 2010s where I would post stuff on technology and photography. Then platforms emerged: YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Medium. The horizon became scattered, more fast-paced and short-lived. The more polished it became, the higher the barrier to creating felt. Everything had to shine now, only to vanish tomorrow. Trends shrank into micro-trends; “stories” forgot themselves.

My content was suddenly not mine anymore-it lived on someone else’s platform, handed off to algorithms that decided who would see it.

I’m not alone in this. As the BBC recently explored in “Why did our friends stop posting on social media?,” posting itself is in decline. More and more of us realized that our feeds had turned into an endless stream of brands and influencers, while friends quietly stopped sharing. Social media has become less social, more television.

“Social media has become less social. It’s more about consuming commodified content than relating to friends and family.”

Hey there! 👋 I'm Phil, and I love sharing my thoughts on innovation, design, and the future of technology.

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• Kyle Chayka, BBC Interview, 2025

The Inspiration

In 2023 a special person passed away - and the only legacy he left was a large bookshelf I had to quickly decide on which book to pick. I was wondering:

"What, besides my actions on this planet, would I leave behind in terms of data / information? An Instagram profile?"

No, my close ones should receive a library of life - and I would love to get the same chance of getting to know my friends better through deep content. What was missing was a summary of key things that moved him while he was alive, so I could continue his mission.

This garden is my response: a slower, more durable way to share-without chasing the algorithm - without relying on platforms.

The garden is divided into posts (the offspring of my ideas) and links (a database of content that inspired me along the way).

Everything here is self-hosted in the EU. My notes live in Obsidian, which I carry offline wherever I go. I didn’t use an off-the-shelf CMS-this garden is hand-built, so it can evolve with me instead of against me.

Here you can read, touch, and listen. Many posts include extra research powered by Google’s NotebookLM, and some have audio versions so you can take them on a walk.

Explore the garden

I want work that lasts longer than a trend cycle. Something you can revisit, annotate, and carry in your headphones or Kindle. Something free-format I can keep refining in public.

First sparked by Tim Rodenbröker’s write-up on building a digital garden (“How I built myself a Digital Garden”, 2023; updated 2025). If you’re curious about the method, start there-and then come back and get lost here. 🌱

The Long Term Mission

Just like trees share nutrients amongst each other, I would love to become part of a network that is interoperable, decentralized, easy to use - and not as addictive and focussed on short-form content as the established dopamine platforms. For more conscious consumption and creation - for stronger bonds between us. Some platforms in that direction already exist or are under development. I highly recommend checking out Roco or Listee

Samen met AI gemaaktOver deze afbeeldingDeze afbeelding is samen met behulp van generatieve AI gemaakt, met menselijke aansturing en curatie. Het is gelabeld om transparant te zijn over AI-ondersteunde inhoud, in lijn met de transparantieverplichtingen van de EU AI Act.Meer over de EU AI Act

Posts: The Harvest of my Ideas

These are ideas I’ve tended over time-sketches that matured into essays, case studies, and talks.

Each post is a branch from the same trunk: design, mobility, technology, society, resilience. Expect updates as they grow rings. Just like trees, they are meant to be alive. They take seasons. They carry memory. I’d rather cultivate durable thinking than chase the feed.

Links: The Seeds to My Inspiration

This is a living library I’d recommend to friends, family, acquaintances.

The process:

• I save content like long-form articles, videos, podcasts etc. using Obsidian Web Clipper.
• They’re enriched by AI with summaries and key insights.
• I keep them offline for my Kindle, so I can read anywhere.
• If they resonate, I re-publish them here as recommended links.

The links live in a graph view that shows closeness and connectedness by topic-like paths in a forest.

• Explore by feeling: it’s less about convenience, more about wandering. Think “Amazonas with a machete”-slower than a feed, but richer in serendipity.
• Views & density: ~12 nodes on mobile, ~25 on desktop (the forest will keep growing).
• Follow the clusters: systems connect to society, AI to craft, bikes to cities-you’ll see how ideas pollinate.

Join Me on the Path

This garden isn’t finished-it never will be. It grows when I return, prune, and plant new seeds. Sometimes it’s messy, sometimes it blooms.

If any of this resonates, I’d love for you to wander along: explore the trails, mark a thought, share a branch of your own. The forest only thrives when more people tend to it.

Let’s build a web that feels alive again-less feed, more forest. Explore the garden