Tips For Techies And Enthusiasts: A Community Is Not An Option, It’s A Lifeline

Today’s article is a follow up to last week’s; building upon the knowledge shared, I will iterate some points to help us in today’s article.

A Community does not only refer to a group of people with physical meetup dates and locations, with social media, but community can also be found on the internet space from Twitter to Instagram to Facebook, Dribble, Medium, Behance, Trello and even Slack. A community is a social group of people with shared values, interests and identities; with platforms like social media and popular websites, individuals can create a well-bonded community with people that share the same values, interests and identity.

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Today, I will be sharing with you other reasons why a community is a lifeline and how you can find and connect with a community.

Real-time problem solving and Knowledge sharing

The digital space allows a combination of people with different level of skills as well as perspective because of their experiences and other interests. A tech community usually exists to help each person grow and develop especially with the dynamic nature of tech. with a community, you can find solutions to problems you are encountering in a software or a design process and benefit from the knowledge other people share from books, articles, videos and experiences that can help in personal growth. As you derive value from the community, you are also encouraged to deliver the same value back. Like Helen Keller said “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.”

Learn from experts

The term experts is contextual and most techies will scrunch their nose at them being referred as experts. In spite of this, a community affords you the platform to learn from other people with years or months ahead of you in experience. You can learn better ways to build or develop something without making a lot of mistakes when you take the place of a learner always.

How to Find and Connect to a Community

• Search for relevant hashtags that resonate with the values or interests you think your community will use. This research can be done using other tools or platforms like …. Or by simply thinking up buzz words that should be used. For example, some of those hashtags can be #tech, #techtalk, #ux, #java etc.
• The hashtag research will direct you to a list of different individuals that have commented or started conversations with that hashtag. Browse through them and decide which pf those individuals embody your values and interests. You can go through their timelines and see previous posts.
• If they resonate with you and you see they can offer you value, follow them so you see their posts.
• Follow up conversations with comments on posts you see that resonate with you intellectually.

Remember, social media can sometimes be toxic because there are no boundaries to vet whether what someone says is correct and non-offensive. So, take your time and withdraw if it affects you mentally or emotionally.

• Read articles, watch videos, partake in challenges, answer other people’s question you can solve and ask questions when things seem hazy or confusing to you. This way you are contributing to the community and showing that you are open to learning and improving your skills.
• Over time other people will follow you because of the value you offer and you become recognized as part of a community.

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Understand that a community may be large but have sub-communities under it that makes the members feel a closer bond because they work in the same state and tech topic and this is okay too.

Coretta Scott King once said:

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.

– Coretta Scott King

Always remember this as you step out to start a community or join an existing one.

Featured Image Source: Evanston Chamber

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aanu-olajide

Aanuoluwapo Olajide is a freelance writer who believes that words are fundamental blocks and are the force of life and death. She is a tech enthusiast, fashion designer and a lover of words.

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