I know all about over-analyzing. It used to be one of my favorite hobbies. However, I've discovered overthinking is a disease. Little good comes from it. You'll convince yourself a subject is more complicated than it is. And then you'll be crippled by indecision. While you spend hours analyzing a topic, others will spend the same amount of time implementing. And who will be further ahead? The latter. Based on my experience in Lambda School, social media is the #1 subject web developers in training overthink the most. Know the feeling? Read below.
"How do I promote myself on social media?"
Don't "promote" yourself at all. Instead, document your process. That's what potential clients and employers really care about.
For example, I share a screenshot of every project I make on LinkedIn and Twitter. How? Simple:
- Click the "print screen" button on your computer.
- Paste it into Paint (or a similar program).
- Crop out the excess (anything irrelevant).
- Make a new folder for this exclusive purpose.
- Save the file (maybe include a date so you can sort them).
- Share it on social media and attach a short description of what it does.
For interactive or responsive projects, I recommend sharing a video instead. Here's an easy program that lets you make videos by pressing the Windows key + G: Xbox Console Companion (no, you don't have to own an Xbox).
So you can see this process in action, here are two sample tweets.
Last night I made a React #app that pulls profile information from the @Github API. It also includes a search box where you can plug in another user's information to see their profile and followers. Pretty happy with this one! #coding #100DaysOfCode #LambdaSchool #ReactJS #React pic.twitter.com/shN2flJeEI
— Daniel Wallen (@webwallen ) September 1, 2019
It's about smurfing time I got this app to work. Yesterday I suffered through my worst sprint challenge yet at #LambdaSchool. But this morning I tried again and found myself having fun + coding faster without the time pressure. #100DaysOfCode #ReactJs #StateManagement #Javascript pic.twitter.com/Gd7LrMycCI
— Daniel Wallen (@webwallen ) September 14, 2019
You don't have to be "perfect" to showcase your work. That's why I shared the one above here. Did you see how I turned a negative (my inability to pass a sprint) into a positive (my ability to recover from a setback quickly)? Do the same.
Lastly, make sure you attach relevant hashtags to your updates on Twitter or nobody will see them (unless you have a million followers). Feel free to steal the ones above. It won't hurt my feelings.
Top comments (1)
Awesomeeeeee! Love it.