This is a submission for the 2026 WeCoded Challenge: Echoes of Experience
Over the last year, It recently shed light to me that I want to share that is overlooked, especially in any career and no one pointed out.
I recently had severe OCD back in August and it prevented me from using my devices. As a result, I was lock in boredom where I couldn't do anything.
- I can't code
- I can't build projects
- Job Hunting is out of the question
However, it showed me that I should have expect, but never got to it.
It was spending time with others.
It is obvious that life is too short and we should cherish on others as much as we can. However, we are so busy in our lives that we have not got the chance to be with the one's we loved. I know that a developer career takes a lot of time because we have to keep up with tech and continue to build projects, though we never got the chance to socialize.
The Time it Changed
Recently, I came across this short that genuinely made me cry:
It reminded me that I rarely have chances to be with those that helped me on my journey. This short felt like I was intentionally robbing them, which is not the case. Of course, if someone has helped you, you want to return the favor. I felt like that I have not done that.
What hurt the most is on Dev.to. Yes, this platform is an inclusive space and everyone is really supportive. But it just so to happen recently that there was some expectation I fail to meet and that it was my fault.
One case is that I recently made a Tutorial Guide to engage with the community on Dev.to. When I was replying to everyone's comment, there was one that stood out to me:
This trigger this feeling that I need to be responsible for everyone on Dev.to because I don't want to think that them posting their articles and not getting engagement in some way is a robbery of their time.
As a result, I started to look at other people's activity on Dev.to. One person that stood out is @bingkahu, who is part of my DEVengers Org.
I notice he post consistently, but haven't got any engagement from the community whatsoever. It made me genuinely sad because he put so much effort into posting consistently, but haven't receive anything from the community. I felt guilty that he is part of my organization, but haven't interacted with him. As a result, I decided to apologize in one of the Weekly Challenges he has done with this comment:
If anything, please give some love to him and give him challenges!
Another person in mind is @jarvisscript
He has been on Dev.to for 9 Years. Very impressive indeed!
However, I notice he too also not get a lot of engagement. I decided to post on one of this weekly posts:
What Point am I Making?
The point is to check up with each other. There will be a time where we won't be on Dev.to much longer and we will move on from our lives, wherever it takes us. The whole goal is trying to make this place a memorable place and is not something where we join Dev.to just to check off in our TODO list. It is the whole reason why I created the guide on Dev.to to begin with:
I want everyone to feel inclusive and not leaving anyone in the dust. Every time I see an article with no engagement, I felt responsible and genuinely sad. It made me take initiative because I don't want others to feel loneliness.
What can you do?
Here are some things we can do!
If you see a user that gets no engagement, be the Icebreaker!
If you see a post on the #discuss tag or any post, leave a genuine comment! This platform's goal is to help one another and we need to show that! It can be tiring sure, but if we all do it, it would be the most inclusive community we can achieve and that is something worth remembering. As a bonus, we may even get the IceBreaker badge!
Welcome Threads!
I took a break from replying to every single comment in the Welcome Threads and I notice that most of the comments doesn't get any welcome responses. Most cases it's just me and Richard Pascoe replying and welcoming everyone to Dev.to. If you can, for every welcome thread, leave a reply at least one person that does not have any replies and welcome them to Dev.to!
If possible, refer back to my article on the Dev.to guide if you can! The goal is to make the best user friendly guide on Dev.to and it would help if we can share it to others!
Thanks for Reading
I just want to share this since I have been feeling guilty and responsible for not being inclusive enough recently. I know I can't do this along since it is tiring, which is the reason I asked everyone if they can do this. It will be greatly appreciated! Now, let me ask you this:
Are you doing okay?
Top comments (21)
Wow, such a simple and unique concept. You always come up with simple yet amazing ideas.
Hi @francistrdev. How you been doing. Just checking up on you. I know you recently lost a friend who just quitted Dev.to. I hope you are well and working on your ideas.
I just wanted to let you know "You are amazing person and an awesome writer". Your articles always leave viewer with a knowledgable insight. I want to see you grow and attend a seminar held by Dev.to where their amazing writer share their experience and expertise. I wanted to talk to you and learn from you as I was scrolling through Forem github and working on the issues. I ran into installation issues and you were the first person to come to my mind due to your post on What's your win where your first pr was accepted.
You always comment on other people's posts and encourage them and also guide the new users through your guide and welcoming them in introduction. You are person that gives big brother vibes that whenever I'm in trouble, let's ask Francis for advice.
Thank you being so amazing and creating such valuable content. You matter and always keep shining and helping others in need. Thank you for being so awesome and congrats on your wins.
Ran through all your hurdles like this girl with car.
Hey @konark_13! I appriciate you taking the time to check up on me! I appreciate it!
Richard leaving Dev.to was heartbreaking for me since it has been years since I made a connection online and it was quite genuine since we both helped each other grow on this platform. Richard leaving made me feel lonely since it made me want to honor him by keep on growing on this platform and my career.
I am glad my content has helped you in many ways and always part of your choice to come here to seek advice, especially when you mentioned "I ran into installation issues and you were the first person to come to my mind due to your post on What's your win where your first pr was accepted". I am grateful!
Just want to clarify: "scrolling through Forem github and working on the issues". Are you currently contributing?
Other than that, I am grateful and happy that my articles helped you on Dev.to! I appreciate the support and wish you well on your journey as well!
Keep it up and nice Gif lmao xd
Take care Francis. Even though you lost Richard, he was a big part of you. But, you also have all of us with you and always there to support you.
I want to start contributing and make a habit of it. But I ran into installation issues of Dev.to so I seek your guidance but couldn't find a channel to contact you so I left it.
See I can't take Richard's place cause He was the goat. But, I'll promise to be always supporting you no matter what the occasion is. So, you better keep rising and shining so that when Richard makes a comeback he should be happy to see you growth.
Thanks Konark!
Feel free to email me about your installation issue and we can do a zoom call or something to get a good start to contribute to Forem! Let me know!
Sure. Thank you so much for your guidance.
I remember when I first started posting in here just over two years ago, I remembered why I started. I didnt really care how many likes it follows or engagements I had. I knew that the primary purpose of using dev was to keep a blog of my activities so I can prove to others I wasnt born yesterday. 😂
My Blog was VERY quiet and very low interactions for the first year. Once I started doing dev challenges and judging contests, that started to change. Im a little sad they are taking away judges. I liked that.
It has taken me over two years, but I now get active engagements but posting regularly and also rummaging through other people's stuff and commenting. If you want people to interact with you, you must make your presence known. Many devs like to hide in dark corners.
Heres what ive learned about DEV: A few comments occasionally goes a really long way. 🦄⭐️
Hey Anna! Hope you are well!
It is important for your presence to be known in general and I do agree that most hide in dark corners. I started out Dev.to by just commenting, so I can see how the community is liked. Once I got that started, I then plan out my weekly blogs about...anything really...mostly things I would like to share :D
I do hope @jess will bring it back once how the judges flow based on the MLH merge would work. I would image you would have to register on the MLH website in order to volunteer, but we will see!
Thanks for sharing Anna! I appreciate it :D
Thanks for the shout out, it's brought more traffic. Also a challenge I need to figure out why DEV notices are in my spam folder. Dev Community emails should be approved senders. But found this notice and more in there today.
Please check in on people. The encouragement helps.
Hey Chris! No problem and glad you are still here on Dev! Will respond to your comment on your post in a bit. Thanks again :D
This is a really thoughtful post — and it says a lot about the kind of person you are.
But reading it, I had one strong thought: you’re putting a lot on your shoulders.
You’re not responsible for everyone on Dev.to. Not for their engagement, not for how their posts perform.
It’s great to care and to reach out to others — that’s what makes communities feel alive.
But at the end of the day, this is still just a blog platform.
We’re all here voluntarily, doing our own thing, at our own pace.
Sometimes you comment, sometimes you don’t — and that’s okay.
The small, genuine interactions you already do? That’s more than enough.
Hey Sylwia! Thanks for the genuine response!
Even though it is just a blogging platform, the community is small enough where it is quite inclusive and you get recognize easily. I thought it would make sense to try to engage with others as much as possible.
Glad you are here! Hopefully, I can find a way to tone it down but still make an impact :D
Really liked this article, it may seem simple, but it’s actually very important. Just one observation I’d like to add: lack of engagement doesn’t mean lack of value. In fact, there is a lot of great content on DEV without engagement. A recent example: I was looking for articles about best practices and real production experience with database migration, and the best resources I found were from DEV. These articles had no engagement at all, even though they have great value.
I think many people believe it makes no difference whether they leave a comment/reaction/clap after reading an article. I used to think the same, even when I genuinely liked an article, I didn’t think it matters if I engag or not.
Now I understand that, for the author it really matters to know their articles are useful to others, it means their hard work is recognized 🙂
Hey Marina! Hope you are well!
I agree! There are posts out there that has potential, but gets little engagement to the point where we all miss the treasure! It's always a good idea to at least engage it in some way in order for the author to acknowledge that their work means something.
Thanks for sharing :D
It takes little effort to reach out and check in with others, but the positive consequences can often be huge. I try to interact with a diversity of posts and in the welcome thread but I feel like I could do more of it. Thanks for sharing this message and for the reminder.
Thanks Julien! It does take effort whether you do it manually or try to make a bot. But even that takes work and we know which one is better lol
I noticed you also took the time to reply on many posts, which is great! I am hoping we all do it so we don't get a feeling of "one man army". Thanks again and hope you are well :D
Agree, it would be great to have even more people interacting with each other!
I am doing well by the way, thanks for asking, hope you too :)
The part about noticing someone in your org posting consistently and getting nothing back and then actually doing something about it instead of just scrolling past that means a lot! You noticed and wrote a whole article calling the rest of us in 💜
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