Social Media: the Sore Subject Every Developer Should Stop Overthinking
Tags: career, webdev, beginners, firstyearincode
Published: 2019-09-16 22:38:26

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 <a href="https://www.lambdaschool.com" target="_blank">Lambda School</a>, social media is the #1 subject web developers in training overthink the most. Know the feeling? Read below.

<h2>"How do I promote myself on social media?"</h2> 

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

For example, I share a screenshot of every project I make on <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/WebWallen" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/WebWallen" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. How? Simple: 

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

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: <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/xbox-console-companion/9wzdncrfjbd8?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab">Xbox Console Companion</a> (no, you don't have to own an Xbox).

<h2>So you can see this process in action, here are two sample tweets.</h2>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Last night I made a React <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/app?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#app</a> that pulls profile information from the <a href="https://twitter.com/github?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Github</a> API. It also includes a search box where you can plug in another user&#39;s information to see their profile and followers. Pretty happy with this one! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coding?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coding</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/100DaysOfCode?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#100DaysOfCode</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LambdaSchool?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LambdaSchool</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ReactJS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ReactJS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/React?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#React</a> <a href="https://t.co/shN2flJeEI">pic.twitter.com/shN2flJeEI</a></p>&mdash; Daniel Wallen (@WebWallen) <a href="https://twitter.com/WebWallen/status/1168151708805017601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<br><br>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s about smurfing time I got this app to work. Yesterday I suffered through my worst sprint challenge yet at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LambdaSchool?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LambdaSchool</a>. But this morning I tried again and found myself having fun + coding faster without the time pressure. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/100DaysOfCode?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#100DaysOfCode</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ReactJs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ReactJs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StateManagement?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StateManagement</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Javascript?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Javascript</a> <a href="https://t.co/Gd7LrMycCI">pic.twitter.com/Gd7LrMycCI</a></p>&mdash; Daniel Wallen (@WebWallen) <a href="https://twitter.com/WebWallen/status/1172901459907817477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<br>

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. 

<h3>Do you have any other social media tips to share with the community? If so, comment below! </h3>