[231020] Content creator vs content curator

[Chalarangelo]

Hey everyone, welcome back for another devblog! 👋

This time around, I'm going to write more about the content side of things. One issue I've been faced with for a long time now is how to handle community contributions, especially new content additions. I'm going to be blunt - most of the contributions the repository receives aren't all that relevant or worthwhile for most readers. I'm also going to be honest - I'm not very good at providing constructive feedback, handling community or editing poorly written pieces.

These two ingredients are a bad enough combination on their own, but if you put my limited time into the mix this becomes particularly problematic. The fact of the matter is I want the content to be of the highest possible quality and not pollute the website with tons of irrelevant or poorly written articles or documentation level tips.

Being an open source maintainer requires you to wear many hats. At this point in time, I'm faced with the dilemma of content creator vs content curator in regards to this project and it seems like the former's ROI is significantly greater. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for the time and effort other people have put into this project, but at this point in time following my own content plans seems to yield the best results contrasted with reading through PRs, many of which ultimately end up in the garbage.

So, what does this mean? In the long term, I'm not exactly sure myself, if I'm honest. In the short term, however, there's a very specific set of changes I want to make and content I aim to produce, so new community contributions won't be prioritized. Fixes, typos, discussions on existing content and ways to improve it are very much welcome and I will try to keep up with such contributions, but new snippets, especially low effort ones will probably end up being auto-closed after a period of time.

I understand that this might raise some eyebrows or piss off some people, even alienate parts of the community. It's completely understandable, but it's the decision I'm making, especially given that there are limited resources to allocate to this project at any given time. Hopefully, those eager first-time contributors will find a smaller, more welcoming community to participate actively in and get the much needed credit and attention they deserve from community maintainers there.

Until next time... 🍻