I’ve pretty much avoided any contact or networking with other people in the past, including online social networks, mainly because of mental health reasons.
I’m starting to get better now because I’m finally getting medication that works, so I decided I should at least create profiles for the major social networks. However, because of my past, I have 0 contacts and am too embarrassed to add the few people that I do know.
Now I’m starting to think I should delete everything again, because while not being on a social network might look suspicious / weird, having 0 contacts looks even worse.
Yeah I have a similar issue. I have made facebook and Linked In accounts though, for Linked In I just started adding people who I worked with or had been classmates with even if I didn’t know them that well and joining groups. People will usually accept it if it looks like you have similar background. Facebook is pretty much the same thing, join groups and add the people you know, don’t be too embarassed about it. I doubt not being on a social network really looks that suspicious, and in my experience once you start making new contacts in person they’ll start asking and you can just explain you haven’t made one yet and then after you know a few people make one and start adding them.
Unfortunately I’m not the type to create blog posts or tweet about technology; I care about doing a good job and I’m always trying to learn new things, but I find I’m too busy trying to just handle my day-to-day responsibilities to create much in terms of original content. Participating on stackoverfllow is pretty much the only thing I do in that regard.
I can see that this problem is sort of self-inflicted; I just don’t interact much with people because in general I find it takes a lot of energy for me, which I typically feel I can’t afford.
I have a similar problem. I fully realize the benefit of having an active twitter account these days… heck, I’m even starting to see some job descriptions that practically require it. But I go through long periods of time where I just can’t bring myself to post. And when I do, I get anxious about what I wrote and whether or not it will get a response. Most of the time I decide its not worth it. One thing I’m considering is to sign up with something like Hootsuite, so that I can schedule posts to all my social network accounts in advance when I’m in a more social phase. Then I can set it and forget it and not even look at it. Feel free to follow me on twitter as well, if you want. I’ll follow you back. I’m @atinker
I think it’s a good thing to have a Stack Overflow and Github account. It’s good for your reputation as a developer. Makes it easier for companies to notice you and evaluate your skills.
I used to be self-conscious about my friends count on FB as well but not anymore. Just because you don’t have a lot of friends, contacts… doesn’t mean you are worthless or boring.
Most people have tons of contacts they don’t even know in real life…
I have gone back and forth for years on Twitter/Facebook/etc. I find that my condition keeps me from having a filter at times so I have to be very careful about what I Tweet or how I respond online. Even though I have a disclaimer on my Twitter account noting “Views are my own” there are employers (and individuals) out there that will judge you and condemn you if they think you’re “off” or “crazy”. It’s really sad that in this day and age that mental illness is still a stigma. We have to raise awareness, especially in the tech community.
I’d suggest starting off with twitter, having some casual engagements with people that interest you, and go from there. Sometimes the human interaction is healthy for us.