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I know everybody's mileage varies, but these were some of my lowest priorities 20 years ago when I was a 15yo webdev. I wanted to have fun. I built for me. I e
by oliwarner 6y ago
I know everybody's mileage varies, but these were some of my lowest priorities 20 years ago when I was a 15yo webdev.
I wanted to have fun. I built for me. I explored the depths of the internet to get experience with what could be done, and pushed a few boundaries myself. I made games. I wrote appalling code but that didn't matter because I kept moving forward. I built communities around my interests. I just had fun.
I'm going to lose points for this but 15yos shouldn't be worrying about coverage or quality metrics or critique. You're a child. Enjoy it while it lasts.
My second tip is to not get addicted to being in the spotlight. Getting your blog posts onto various front-pages is like cocaine. I mean that. Even after everybody's moved on, you'll still want more and more. That's where burn out lies.
- frosted-flakes 6y agoNot just blog posts, but comments. I enjoy discussing stuff with others, but I hate seeing that number at the top of the page go up, because it goes to my head, and I can't stop checking it. Up- and down-votes are necessary for sorting and moderation purposes, but I wish it was less visible to me. There should be a "noscore" option on HN that hides the scores unless you view individual comments/posts, like "noprocast".
- oliwarner 6y agoYes, it's a very similar feeling, isn't it? Feedback loops and stimulus addiction are dark magic. I haven't yet decided if it's absolutely unhealthy in the context of HN comments though. Just thinking aloud but I like to think that I've got something worthwhile to say if I get involved in a thread. That definitely wasn't the case on Digg or Slashdot way-back-when. But if I'd comment less without the validation, perhaps they're not as worthwhile as I'd like to think and I'm just another karma-whore getting his fix.