> "Walled garden" sounds like you go there because of its beauty or for getting the best crops

Which is exactly why people go to them.

> while in reality you go there because it's the most crowded place.

Directly true of social networks (where the "crop" is "people you can interact with through the network"), perhaps less directly true of some other walled gardens (though network effects are a thing.)

But also directly opposite of what you'd expect from a "cult compound", which people go more to escape what is most popular, than to experience what is most popular.