It has been quite a while sincd I've written my kast post here on dev. There isn't a lot I've done with intension or focus. I also don't know if anyone is following me with some sort of intension on purpose.
I'd love to start writing again especially on the stuff that I'm currently exploring. The problem is most of it isn't purely webdev related and other topics are extensions on what I'm exploring during my masters (think applied evolutionary algorithms, applied deep learning, shaders, etc).
On the internet I'm not really someone so regardless of what I do, I'll most likely be screaming in the void. My main question is should I still scream in this void? Part of the reason why people like DEV (or Codenewbies which I relate to each other since the acquision) is that it is beginner friendly. Don't get my wrong I love writing about topics in way that they become more approachable but most of what I want to write about assumes the the reader is able to translate a (basic) algorithm into code.
Should I just jump in and see how it goes or just exclusively write on my own site?
Additionally I've noticed a lot of folk I follow on twitter because of the DEV community don't seem to be on DEV anymore. Is this platform slowly dying or does that have to do with developer maturity?
Top comments (6)
If you never start screaming into the void, you'll never get to start screaming at people 🤪
I definitely don't think DEV is dying - I think what's really happening is DEV suffering a bit from success right now though and is trying to "catch up" to the large level meta changes. I'm mostly basing this off this recent post and the conversations I've seen happening for the past few months in Mod Connect chats (RIP 😢).
I also think there's some amount of maturity where authors start here because they don't have an audience on their personal blog, then start transitioning to post more on their personal blog once they have a nice amount of SEO traffic being pulled in (while still cross posting to DEV using canoncial_urls) and eventually they reach a point where they care more about their personal blog's content than getting traffic to the DEV posts (which may explain why you don't see them posting links to DEV on Twitter any more).
As developers grow, they might also just find less interest in blogging or have less time for it. I'm sure there are plenty of people that blogging has created opportunity for, then the opportunity starts taking the time they used to dedicate to their blog.
Personally, I post my tech-related articles to DEV and use my personal blog as a place to also write anything else that I want. If people don't read those posts, it's fine with me - it's more about expressing myself and maybe someone enjoying it than the dopamine of getting a million views/likes ~that's what Twitter is for~ .
Hey thanks Tyler!
I had no idea DEV has put a commitment in changing the feed. It's the reason I decided to take a break from DEV in the first place. I do really want to get back into writing so I should probably just go for it. It was not too long ago that I accidentally discovered that mod tab, I do report spam but in general it would probably really help to boost content that is worth people's time as well.
Growing your personal blog by starting out on DEV makes a lot of sense. It's not a huge deal but it's still kind of a bummer that most interesting creators slowly moved away from the platform. (In my case it probably amplifies my issues with the feed).
I guess that I was just in doubt in whether or not people were actually engaging or if spamming till your content reaches the top just was the new DEV mentality. I'm sure that if I cleanse some things in my account and engage a bit more I'll find joy in DEV again.
Cheers :D
It doesn't need to be a choice between your own site or dev. You can cross post to both.
Also there are dev users who will read posts about evolutionary algorithms, deep learning, etc. It does seem like there are significantly more beginner users so you might keep that in mind if you write posts about your masters thesis research. But it can be good practice conveying your work to a range of audiences with varying background.
Yeah that's definitely true. The more I think about it the more I realize I'm probably just overhinking it and just need to give it a go.
Thank you for the advice!
I suffer from the same feeling of shouting out into infinity. I think it really depends on your purpose, I’ve focused more on posting content that is either selfishly for myself — like notes when I learn a new language or framework, rather than with the goal of reaching an audience.
If an audience grows out of it great! Otherwise I’m ok with having a searchable reference online written in my own understanding or lack thereof.
Just my 2cents.
That is fair! Writing for yourself in the first place is most likely the best motivation to start. I don't necessarily mind if posts don't become populair in any way but I do aim for helping/entertaining a single person per post. (Usually because otherwise what I'd leave behind would be quite messy 😅).
I do really like the idea of just publishing (refined) notes to self, I should think about that.
Thanks for sharing your 2 cents!