My journey from 0 to 1K followers on GitHub
Tags: github, journey, followers, tips
Published: 2021-01-11 04:52:25

### Hello Dev Community :wave:

**I’m unbelievably humbled to have hit [this](https://twitter.com/Vinit_Shahdeo/status/1347595456990253056) mark, much obliged to the 1000+ folks who found my weekend's sip of code worthy of following!** Despite all the problems we faced, [2020 has been a great year](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo/vinitshahdeo/discussions/1) for me and now, I'm starting 2021 on this happy note.

[![Vinit Shahdeo Year in Review](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ri331ow0ctvt9iifj8i7.png)](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo/vinitshahdeo/discussions/1)

`git init journey@vinitshahdeo` Back in 2016, I was introduced to GitHub during my college days at [VIT](https://vit.ac.in/) and I found it so interesting that it soon became my homepage. The advent of this journey was marked by a simple web application performing basic calculations like squaring and cubing a number on GitHub and now when I look back, the green dots on my profile show how far I have come.

[![Vinit Shahdeo GitHub Contribution's chart](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/k0xjwr6i448anpvrgobe.png)](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo)

Recently I've accomplished a self-set milestone of becoming **trending #1 developer** on GitHub.

{% twitter 1318493417412857858 %}

In the last two years, I have been part of many open-source programs([GSSoC](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vinitshahdeo_vinitshahdeowater-monitoring-system-activity-6652587525435166720-2eTy/), [SWoC](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo/Water-Monitoring-System/discussions/369), [Hacktoberfest](https://dev.to/vinitshahdeo/hacktoberfest-2020-is-here-17op), etc.) where I got a chance to engage with the community and mentored many beginners to kickstart their open-source journey. Sometimes, I feel like I am not able to enjoy my favorite series on Netflix but helping beginners to create their first-ever pull request compensates for these missed moments. Along the way, I met a lot of amazing developers who are transforming open-source into a more and more awesome space. Always grateful to the community for making GitHub a better place to stalk!

```javascript
console.log('Drop your username, let me stalk you!');
```

Last year when [pandemic](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo/Water-Monitoring-System/issues/236) hit us, I built a [COVID-19 :mask: Tracker :india:](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo/COVID19) which got featured in newspapers. 

{% github vinitshahdeo/COVID19 %}

> <sup>*A pandemic often brings websites with misleading information along with it. With this spirit, I built a [COVID-19 Tracker](https://corona-cases-india.netlify.app/) to protect people from falling into the trap of rumours. Being a human who can code, I couldn't think anything better to give back to the society.*</sup>

Lastly, **never compare your first chapter with someone else’s last chapter**. Your first repository can even contain a code to check if a number is even or odd, but someone may benefit from it. As time goes by, you can contribute by addressing issues, contributing to the codebase, reviewing others’ code, and improving documentation. In the future, your digital footprint will carry more weightage than your resume. GitHub is the best place where aspiring software engineers can build their portfolio.

{% twitter 1289478475380744192 %}

I highly believe that [if you're a techie, your homepage should be GitHub, not Instagram](https://www.opensourceforu.com/2020/07/if-you-are-a-techie-your-home-page-should-be-github-not-instagram/). **Maintain a streak on GitHub as you maintain one on Snapchat.** Get addicted to the green dots. Participate in competitions, connect with developers, indulge in communities and learn from everyone.

> <sup>*DISCLAIMER: The code you write matters more than the followers you have. Having less number of followers on GitHub doesn't mean that the person is a newbie. I always agree that the number of followers should never be a metric to define a stellar GitHub profile. However, a GitHub profile with more followers doesn’t hurt :wink:. Having green contribution streaks makes your profile more attractive, and people might actually follow you!*</sup>

Thank you for reading this :blue_heart:. Listen to the [podcast](https://anchor.fm/dsctiet/episodes/Raw-Talent---Episode-5--Ft--Vinit-Shahdeo---Software-Engineering---Open-Source-and-Postman-Labs-elmsvt) below where I've shared my journey!

{% spotify spotify:episode:6RnQLVzK9cXfBAWHtJvK7V %}

PS: **Grateful to GitHub for the dark theme :black_heart:**, I'm no longer suffering from the retina-burning white theme of default UI.

[![Vinit Shahdeo GitHub](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/focu6izavuq6lois6f5q.png)](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo)

> Find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Vinit_Shahdeo) | [GitHub](https://github.com/vinitshahdeo) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinitshahdeo/).