The Rise of "Objective" Opinions in Tech Content, And Why You Should Care

Development is a craft. Think like a developer, not a follower.

"Never use Redux again."
"React is dead, switch to SolidJS."
"Here's why this framework will double your productivity."
Sound familiar?

If you've been surfing the web, YouTube, dev.to, or Medium lately, you've probably read headlines such as these delivered with the assurance of gospel truth. The line between subjective experience and objective truth is increasingly blurred on a daily basis, especially in the field of programming content.

Let’s talk about that.

When Opinions Masquerade as Facts

The online dev community is full of passionate people. Fortunately. Passion has a tendency to be redefined as truth, though, especially when one's got something to sell - be it a blog, a camera, or a product.

“I didn’t like X in my last project.”

Becomes:

“X is a terrible tool. Don’t use it. Ever.”

It is fine to hate a tool. But when writers, especially professional developers, influencers, and content creators, set forth these stances without context, nuance, or caveat, they accumulate to dogma in technology. It fosters a culture of "right" vs. "wrong" in doing it this way, rather than just working with trade-offs.

---

YouTube: The Home of Overconfident Hot Takes

YouTube is packed with informative dev content, but it's also full of videos like:

• "You’re still using Node.js? You’re doing it wrong."

• "Tailwind is garbage — here’s why I never use it."

• "Stop using Express.js in 2025."
  Are these inherently wrong? Not necessarily.
  But most of the time, they’re clickbait-heavy and experience-poor. You’ll often find:

• Junior devs or career switchers repeating opinions they read somewhere else

• Bold claims that lack benchmarks, context, or industry usage stats

• Videos that tear down a tool just to promote another one (often with an affiliate link.)

These videos tend to oversimplify complex decisions and overcomplicate simple decisions, choosing a framework, API style, or hosting solution, into black-and-white answers.

Blogs: When Content is Just a Sales Pitch

Let’s talk about developer blogs: including big platforms like dev.to, Hashnode, or Medium.

There’s a growing trend of posts that look like tutorials, but are really covert product plugs. Some examples:

• A "guide" on building authentication... that just happens to be all about this new API-as-a-Service.

• “Why we moved from X to Y” blog posts… that just happen to be written by an employee at Company Y.

• “Top 5 JavaScript tools you need in 2025” — 3 of which are made by the same company, and all have paid tiers.

This isn't inherently bad, developers need to make money, and tools need exposure.
But transparency matters.
If you're promoting a tool, say so.
If you're writing a tutorial, don’t bury three affiliate links and pretend it’s a neutral recommendation.

Why Does This Matter

1. Junior developers get confused.
   When someone’s new, they often don’t know how to filter hype from reality. A post saying “Don’t ever use React Query” might scare someone off a perfectly good tool because the author didn’t like the docs.

2. We stop learning how to think critically.
   Part of being a good developer is learning to weigh trade-offs. When content is all about absolutes, we lose that habit.

3. The ecosystem becomes more about narrative than facts.
   Some tools get hyped to death (hi, Bun), while stable, boring solutions (hi, Express) get dumped on, even if they work just fine.

What You Can Do

Whether you’re consuming or creating content, here are a few simple ideas:

• Read critically
  Ask: What’s the author’s experience? Are they using real examples? Do they explain the trade-offs?

• Beware of strong claims
  If someone says “X is better than Y” — ask, in what context? For what use case?

• Look for discourse, not dogma
  Good tech content welcomes disagreement. Bad content shuts it down.

• Reflect your bias (if you’re writing)
  If you love SvelteKit, awesome. Say that. But don’t pretend it’s “objectively” better than Next.js unless you’ve tested both deeply.

Wrapping Up: More Nuance, Less Noise

Tech isn’t a religion. It’s a craft.
We need more humble opinions, more curiosity, and less shouting from digital rooftops.
Because the truth is: most decisions in software are subjective.
And that's okay.
So next time you see a bold claim in a video or a post, take a breath.
Ask questions. Look for context. Read the comments (okay, maybe not YouTube’s ).
Think like a developer, not a follower.