I heard about DEV a while back from a former colleague who was posting regularly back then. She won a few challenges and prizes and spoke about how...
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OHH I was waiting for this post for a while lol. Glad you are still here on DEV!
That's fair and same for me when I first post. I realize I need to put myself out there more by commenting than posting. It's the only TRUE way for everyone to know you exist!
Congrats on the 20K followers as well. Well Deserved!
Going to add this post as part of the dev.to guide. I think your experience would be a worthy mention for new users!
Get Started on Dev.to! A Beginner's Guide to Engage with the Community! 💡
Well done. Keep going for us! :D
Well since I went through the forem codebase, tbh, we all made the exact same mistake. We start a new account and post as soon as we can. Likely signed up, just to send out that first post. The problem with that is that your account has 0 rep (the database value that determines whether DEV advertises your post or not), so an initial flop is actually guaranteed, which I honestly think should be made clear when you write up your first post, cuz it's really discouraging when your first one flops so hard, that you dont want to post again... (It took me a month before I posted again, after my first 2 flopped). If I were to post those 2 today, they'd hit 100x more traction. That initial discouragement lead me to believe maybe I failed, I thought I invented something new and incredible, but people dont care. Reality is, it was never advertised and the 2 people who read it back then, were literally scrolling latest the second it released, so sheer dumb luck. Had I known that back then, I would have waited, mingled a week or 2 first, then posted.
exactly, a good learning
Great advice! You should make your own post about this. Or have you done that already? I probably should of done some looking around on your profile before I said that but oh well I'm trying to mingle with people regardless...
Honestly, this is the kinda think I'd rather want the mods to add to the welcome post, or a popup when someone writes their own first post as a disclaimer to let them know it's recommended to integrate into the community to get traction. A bit of transparency goes a long way... I know Forem is open source, but that doesnt make it any less ambiguous to end-users. I found things even the mods didnt know, because I dug through the codebase.
But maybe I should start a 'Dummy's Guide to Dev.to', I havent been here nearly long enough to do it justice though.
I mean I already have the guide on dev.to. If there is something you want to add, lmk and I can update accordingly:
Get Started on Dev.to! A Beginner's Guide to Engage with the Community! 💡
Congrats, Julien 🎉
I also found that the more I started writing and interacting with people here, the more I wanted to keep doing it. DEV has been a really welcoming community.
20k followers in your first year is amazing. Well deserved 😄
All the best for year two 😀
Thank you so much Hemapriya!
Congrats, Julien 🥰🥳 I wish you a next hundred years here on DEV 😁
Thanks Sylwia!
A hundred years sounds great haha
Congrats on 20k, Julien! 🎉 Loved the point about consistency over vanity metrics, that's such an underrated lesson for anyone starting out on DEV
Thanks Varshith!
the 7 reactions thing is universal. posted for months before anything landed. the discouragement is part of it apparently.
it's interesting to know that most people experience the same thing
solidarity helps. once I started treating the first 60 days as a cold-start phase rather than a quality signal, the discouragement stopped landing the same way. now I track comments-per-article, not reactions.
100%
yeah once that reframe lands it kind of resets what you’re actually tracking.
Congrats on the 20k, Julien!
One thing that really stood out to me was your point about "give before you take." Looking back at my own journey here, I think that completely changed my experience too.
When I first started writing, I assumed good content would naturally find an audience. But the more I commented, had conversations, and genuinely got to know people, the more I realized DEV isn't just a publishing platform, it's a community. The relationships came first, and the readership followed.
I also loved your point about writing creating more ideas instead of exhausting them. I've found the same thing. Every post seems to spark two or three more that I hadn't even thought about before.
Congratulations again on an incredible first year. Looking forward to seeing what year two brings!
Thanks Aryan! It feels great to be part of this wonderful community! Members like you inspire me to keep going!
Congrats on year 1! Dev is such a great community and I appreciate hearing everyone's journey. For your weekly writing...do you keep track of your ideas for articles or post what you currently work on?
Thanks!
Yes I have a simple notes where I keep track. I also create draft posts in DEV with a placeholder title and add content whenever I think of something related to the topic I am writing about.
@javz This is truly inspiring, makes me want to move my DEV posting commitment from monthly to weekly:
I'm still contemplating about it though. But I think if I lend at least one hour a week specifically, maybe I could do it as well (not sure when yet). Either way, congrats on this massive achievement! Life is hard and we deserve our own celebrations.
Thanks Elmar!
What works for me is blocking an evening in the week dedicated to writing the weekly draft and then polishing it throughout the rest of the week.
That's smart, not all in one go. Might have to convince myself to try that first. I hope I don't get too lazy hahaha 🤣
I read all. That's a good story. I'm new here I feel motivated but I don't know what to write and what if I make mistakes or run out of topic. That confident I'm struggling with. Thank you man. I'm keep reading on DEV from now on. Let's see.
Thanks Sam for the kind words.
As for choosing a writing topic, maybe start by participating in one of the DEV challenges as it gives you already a topic to write about. Otherwise maybe you have a project you are working on with some learnings to share?
Feel free to bounce topics around with me, I am sure we can find a topic for you to write about :)
Congrats on the milestone, and thank you for this.
The "give before you take" point hit especially hard, I started my own dev.to series just last month, and I definitely underestimated how much engaging with other people's posts matters before anyone engages with yours.
I'm only a few articles in, but the "create a system" advice already matches what's kept me going. I write about what I'm learning as I learn it, so each post feeds the next one instead of me having to hunt for ideas.
Bookmarking this for the weeks I feel discouraged by low reactions. Looking forward to your year 2 recap!
Thanks Divine!
Keep going!
Good points - main takeaway: just keep going, even when in the beginning the "results" seem to be underwhelming - if you stick with it then eventually you'll see those results!
(other takeaway: the motivation to write should be "intrinsic" - don't obsess too much with those stats/metrics ...)
Nice that you kept at it and that writing on dev.to started "paying off" for you!
Thanks leob!
Consistency is key .. congrats Julien! 🫡
Thanks Med!
I hope to be like you when I grow up 😊 congratulations 🎉
Thanks Ekong! :)
Congrulation buddy!
Thanks Ben! I appreciate your comments :)
Congratulations on 20k followers!!!❤️🎉🎊
Thank you!!!
Consistency is most important :) But I really liked the idea of 'having fun', that's really great!
Having fun is so important!