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Discussion on: Is coding a work-for-free popularity contest?

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Ben Halpern

Is it even realistic to advance your career anymore without obsessing over the latest technology, meetups, speaking events, conferences, etc.?

Yeah that's tough. I would certainly hope not, but I definitely see the pressures you are describing.

Personally, I've found it perfectly fine to not worry too much about the hot new things and let the ecosystem settle. But I've typically had the privilege of setting my own course. If you're structure is defined by others this all seems much harder.

Mostly this is an interesting question. I am 100% in your corner but as someone who has done all the exhausting things on this list myself I have a hard time knowing how things might have worked out otherwise.

Would love to read others' thoughts on this.

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Donald

Personally, I've found it perfectly fine to not worry too much about the hot new things and let the ecosystem settle.

After I looked at this post, that really reminds me of how 10 years ago, some of the technologies in that stack were en vogue, then fell out because "it doesn't scale." I had the mentality of waiting to let things settle, though when I was looking for employment, it didn't really seem to help me.

But I've typically had the privilege of setting my own course.

This is what I've been doing that last 9 months. I think I have to experiment some more to find what works in terms of getting customers and finding out where I get the best engagement from.