Social Media: the Sore Subject Every Developer Should Stop Overthinking

I know all about over-analyzing. It used to be one of my favorite hobbies. However, I've discovered overthinking is a disease. Little good comes from it. You'll convince yourself a subject is more complicated than it is. And then you'll be crippled by indecision. While you spend hours analyzing a topic, others will spend the same amount of time implementing. And who will be further ahead? The latter. Based on my experience in Lambda School, social media is the #1 subject web developers in training overthink the most. Know the feeling? Read below.

"How do I promote myself on social media?"

Don't "promote" yourself at all. Instead, document your process. That's what potential clients and employers really care about.

For example, I share a screenshot of every project I make on LinkedIn and Twitter. How? Simple:

1. Click the "print screen" button on your computer.
2. Paste it into Paint (or a similar program).
3. Crop out the excess (anything irrelevant).
4. Make a new folder for this exclusive purpose.
5. Save the file (maybe include a date so you can sort them).
6. Share it on social media and attach a short description of what it does.

For interactive or responsive projects, I recommend sharing a video instead. Here's an easy program that lets you make videos by pressing the Windows key + G: Xbox Console Companion (no, you don't have to own an Xbox).

So you can see this process in action, here are two sample tweets.

Last night I made a React #app that pulls profile information from the @Github API. It also includes a search box where you can plug in another user's information to see their profile and followers. Pretty happy with this one! #coding #100DaysOfCode #LambdaSchool #ReactJS #React pic.twitter.com/shN2flJeEI

— Daniel Wallen (@webwallen ) September 1, 2019

It's about smurfing time I got this app to work. Yesterday I suffered through my worst sprint challenge yet at #LambdaSchool. But this morning I tried again and found myself having fun + coding faster without the time pressure. #100DaysOfCode #ReactJs #StateManagement #Javascript pic.twitter.com/Gd7LrMycCI

— Daniel Wallen (@webwallen ) September 14, 2019

You don't have to be "perfect" to showcase your work. That's why I shared the one above here. Did you see how I turned a negative (my inability to pass a sprint) into a positive (my ability to recover from a setback quickly)? Do the same.

Lastly, make sure you attach relevant hashtags to your updates on Twitter or nobody will see them (unless you have a million followers). Feel free to steal the ones above. It won't hurt my feelings.

Do you have any other social media tips to share with the community? If so, comment below!