I have been consciously limiting my online presence for the past 5 years. I no longer post on Twitter, I have closed my Facebook account, I haven't really blogged at all. Also, I haven't been going to any conferences or just getting myself out there. I think I can attribute this to the following reasons:
- I have been working from home for more than 7 years, and I needed to manage my time more aggressively.
- I have been enjoying my physical life much more, with a small circle of good friends, a partner, and a dog.
- As my knowledge grew, I have become more humble and self-conscious. A lot of things now seem obvious so I don't feel the need to share them.
- I am a hobbyist by nature, and I drifted to other fun activities that all require time and devotion (all of them were of a non-digital nature).
- I have become wary of sharing personal thoughts on the Internet.
While I am not the regretting type, there's a few things I have missed all this time:
- Exchanging thoughts, views and experiences both within the broader community but also within a small circle of people I have met and value their opinions.
- Putting on my "teaching" hat and engaging deeply with a language, framework or programming approach, in the way that only preparing a presentation or tutorial provides.
- Enjoying the buzzing feeling that you're a member of an open-source community, you've met interesting people online and you're going to physically meet them in a conference.
So with that in mind, it's time to reboot my online presence. I'll see you soon.