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Discussion on: CodeLand 2021 Hallway — Day Two

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emilybrooks profile image
Emily Brooks (She/Her)

Hi all! I am seeking advice about social media. Personally, I chose to stop social media about a year ago. For me, that meant the daily instagram and occasional FB. But now as I venture into coding I feel like I should be connected. I want to meet new people and network well, so Im thinking twitter might be a good choice. Social media can be so addictive and time consuming, I am just weary of going down that path again. So, Im curious what other people might advise. Is it necessary? worth it? How do you do it well professionally without it overflowing into personal life? Any insight is appreciated!

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Jessie Rohrer

I never had Twitter before I started coding, and it has been a great resource. I've found lots of people sharing their learning in the form of cheatsheets, videos, and other resources. I think if you curate it to be coding-centric, it will not be a waste of time.
I never was able to completely give up my social media, but I have been more careful about curating my accounts, making sure I'm following people who create content I find value in and taking advantage of algorithms that want to show me more content based on that.
And if I find myself wasting too much time with social media, I will use timers to control how much time I spend scrolling and reading every day, which allows me to stay connected but still get stuff done. I can't speak for iphones, but my samsung comes with a lot of options for controlling how much time I have certain apps open, and that has been really helpful.

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Tyler V. (he/him)

I definitely got super sucked into Twitter when I found Developer Twitter and ended up addicted for a while.

I've toned back and adjusted the way I use Twitter - on my phone I only look at specific hashtag searches and my replies. Desktop in the morning is where I get my catch-up on what's happened (I also keep my follow count low so I can catch what I want to see).

As for worth it - I think participating in the weekly Dev Discuss (Tuesday nights) and Code Newbie (Wednesday Nights) twitter chats are some of the most fun ways to meet other devs and learn from and interact with some of the most knowledgeable and welcoming developers on the platform! Highly recommend if you do want to join Twitter :D

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Emily Brooks (She/Her)

Yeah, I like the idea of keeping it very small and code/tech/job related only. And I like the chat idea. Thank you!

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Stephanie Back

Hi @emilyewilson , LinkedIn is also a great social media platform and it provides an opportunity to showcase yourself as a professional. :)

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Emily Brooks (She/Her)

Oh yes!! I plan to update LinkedIn ASAP!! Good point!

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Ayu Adiati

Hi Emily!

I started to do Twitter when I found out about tech community.
I still use Instagram (strictly for my family & close friends) and occasonally FB (also strictly for some groups).
I can limit myself with social media, so it's not a problem for me.

But if you let go of social media because you're tired of it, you can join communities if you want to meet new people & networking.
You can start here at CodeNewbie! 😄

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Matt Eves

Hi Emily - this resonated with me, I'm pretty anti-social when it comes to social media 🤔, but, starting to learn coding got me onto Twitter which I've pretty much set up 20% following work related stuff (public/population health) and the majority being newbie coding stuff. The benefit is the Twitter algorithm serves me up an echo chamber of relevant stuff, which has def been useful (prompting thought / looking signpost to sites etc.) - but, requires a degree of discipline to not allow it to be yet another forum that can over-face you / serve as an enabler to making you feel you're inadequate compared to other "proper coders". A talk yesterday from PJ really resonated on this front - you only get to see everyone else's highlight reel compared to your own personal all-access blooper reel; worth staying cognisant of that (was a useful reminder for me, so noting here in case useful for you too). bw.

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Emily Brooks (She/Her)

Yes! I watched that talk as well. Good tip - to not let it serve as a comparison forum, but rather a connection and learning tool. Thanks!!