Why not?
Just kidding, there is more to it. Just thought it flows well with the title and having the answer straight up. With that said, here's my reasons.
Actually to be fair, I don't have a great reason. I mainly saw dev.to back in around early 2020, but I didn't get into it. I saw dev.to as part of my resource whenever I look up how to fix a bug alongside with StackOverFlow. Sometimes it shows, sometime it doesn't. I decide to join dev.to because I want to be part of a community of tech developers. Nothing more, nothing less.
I want to put myself out there. I heard networking was the prime thing and I believe blogging is the easiest thing for me at that time. My OCD prevented me from doing anything technology related, so it was difficult for me to code. Right now, I have been doing ERP (Exposure Responsive Prevention), which has helped me a lot. Although not perfect, I am hopeful for the future.
Additionally, it helps with my OCD because of typing. Sometimes when I type, I tend to have a habit of erasing a whole sentence to a paragraph for reasons I don't feel conformable disclosing. Although it has gotten better, I still have the habit time to time.
With that said, I want to see what dev.to was about and see the community for myself. It is not small, but big enough community where I am heard which is something I don't get used to. My experience is that I would say something (like an idea or opinion), but people don't really listen to my thoughts before speaking. They tend to be really defensive or just straight up mean without having a proper argument structure that I respect. dev.to is a good place because everyone's voice is heard and professional to the point where I can put my voice out there and respect people who agree or disagree with my opinion.
Conclusion
When someone asked me "Why did you join dev.to". I would probably say "why not" to begin with. However, if you asked me now, I would say that:
"I join dev.to because I want to be part of a community where I am supportive, and included. I realized the importance of being part of a community where I get to meet like-minded people I never knew like @codingwithjiro, @konark_13, @sylwia-lask, @itsugo and many others. I never knew that people have change my life and made me a better and happier developer than I never imagine. I am glad to join dev.to and it's one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. Networking is not just about meeting people who have high status, it's about people who will support you in your career and reach to your goals beyond your comprehension.
Now I want to hear from you. I believe this thread will allow new and current members to hear from others about their story of how they got here in the first place. I also want this to be a place to connect with other developers and make memories wherever you are.
So now tell me this: "Why did you join dev.to?" Unless you are @ben and @jess, "Why did you create dev.to?"
Top comments (11)
I don't think you realize how much I needed that this week. I've got my next JLPT exam coming up this weekend (need to max out that stat now lol), and lately it's been a balancing act between two jobs, studying Japanese, trying to keep learning as a developer, and still making time to actually enjoy life. Some days you start wondering if you're spreading yourself too thin.
Then something as simple as seeing your name mentioned in a post like this reminds you why communities matter. A little encouragement from someone you respect can completely change the mood of the day.
When I first joined DEV, I expected to find interesting articles. What I didn't expect was to find people who genuinely challenge my thinking, give thoughtful feedback, and celebrate each other's progress. That's been the biggest surprise for me.
That said I'd better get back to studying... Thanks again for the kind words and for building the kind of community you wrote about here.
Cheers to writing many more great articles together!
Oh yea Aryan, get back to studying lol. Here is my response when you get back and GL!
That is something about blogging. It's not about sharing a one-sided knowledge, it's a collaborative work and helps you improve as a blogger AND a developer. It's a WIN for me.
Once the one year of dev comes up, I have a more detail article about how you change my experience and such. Stay tuned for 2027 lol.
Thanks!! I am obviously gonna stay tuned to see how you rock this place man!!!
I joined because I always wanted to contribute and learn, not just be a full-time consumer of the efforts developers put into building things. Dev.to makes me a better indie organically.
Having like-minded people engage is encouraging. Normally, people will say, “You can’t give what you don’t have,” but I most of the time think, “You can’t get what you couldn’t give.” 🤧
It's funny now that I think of it. I was mostly reading articles from daily.dev everyday to the point that when I click a link, it usually points me to dev.to. So I wonder, is this a place where the cool devs hang out? So I created my account this year and read wonderful articles ever since.
PS. I just hope that more and more genuine articles are posted. Recently, I'm tired of seeing obvious AI posts with just a couple of scrolls. MAKE DEV.TO GREAT AGAIN!
"I am going to build a wall" ahh speech. 😭🌹
But yea, I am hopeful to see DEV's future on moderation and excited as well. Saw many Pull Requests related to Moderation and it looks very excited to see new potential features lined up.
I do hope you will stay on dev.to. It's a great community regardless of AI if you think about it. :)
Thanks for sharing Elmar!
I have one thing to say: dev.to genuinely feels like home to me. No need to put on a front like you do outside. You can drop the mask here. It's a rare kind of comfortable and free.
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Great article Francis! We are here to learn from each other. I am learning a lot of Sylwia or @konark_13 if we tease with each other.
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