Communities: A growth catalyst or not?

For the last few years, I have devoted a huge chunk of my time building and fostering the growth of a few tech communities, and reflecting back, the question “has it been worth it?” hits more than ever.

TL;DR — the short answer is YES

What are tech communities?

A community is a group of people who has or have developed similar interests in a specific subject. These groups of people come together to learn, collaborate, and support each other. At times, it goes beyond just learning, people could form lifetime bonds too!

Pros of joining a community

Access to a pool of potential mentors

Communities usually consist of people of various skill levels and are always a safe space to learn and ask questions from more experienced folks.

This, therefore, gives you the opportunity to interact with more experienced people and industry experts which can eventually evolve into a good relationship that puts them in the position of a mentor.

Access to like-minds and study peers

Because of the wide range of people that can be found in a community, often you will find people who are currently learning the same thing you are learning. The usual trend is that people form study groups within the community, which in turn helps you find learning peers and fosters growth.

Access to job opportunities

Often, the community knows the skill level of its active members. So if you’re active enough and constantly share your progress with people, some community members will always be willing to vouch for your expertise and skillsets. This means community members will often share job opportunities with you, refer you for gigs, or even hire you.

Cons of joining a community

You often can feel you aren’t doing enough

People constantly share their progress and cool stuff they worked on, you might constantly feel the need to “level up” and do more. This feeling can go deeper at times and make you question your abilities, especially if the people making significant progress are people who you started learning at the same time, or even before them. This isn’t necessarily a disadvantage, in my opinion, it's a good way to challenge yourself and get better

Overall, there are fewer and insignificant cons when compared to the pros, therefore belonging to a community is very important and can indeed skyrocket your growth if you’re intentional about it.