LinkedIn DevRel Is Performance Art and We're All Complicit
The Template
Every LinkedIn post by a Developer Relations person follows the same structure:
[Deeply relatable opening hook]
[Vulnerable confession that's not actually vulnerable]
[Product pitch disguised as wisdom]
[Call to action with emoji]Let me demonstrate.
2 years ago, I was struggling.
I’d wake up at 3am thinking about developer experience. My partner would ask “what’s wrong?” and I’d whisper: “Bundle sizes.”
Then I discovered [PRODUCT]. Everything changed.
Now I wake up at 3am thinking about developer experience and I have a startup hoodie.
Grateful for this journey. 🙏
What’s YOUR developer origin story? Drop it below. 👇
And just like that, you’ve got 400 likes and 50 comments from other DevRel people doing the same thing.
The Vulnerability Economy
Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Share something “vulnerable” that’s actually a humble-brag.
“I bombed my first conference talk. Only 500 people showed up and I forgot my slide clicker. But you know what? I learned that authenticity > perfection.”
Step 2: Wait for the support.
“This is so brave!” “We need more of this energy in tech!” “Vulnerability is the new rockstar!”
Step 3: Monetize the vulnerability.
“Speaking of authenticity, my course ‘Authentic API Design’ is 40% off this week.”
It’s not vulnerability. It’s a sales funnel with feelings.
The Emoji Strategy
DevRel LinkedIn has developed its own dialect of emoji-as-punctuation:
- 🚀 = “I shipped something mundane”
- 🔥 = “I agree with this in a way that demands attention”
- 💡 = “I’m about to say something obvious”
- 🧵 = “I wrote too much and now it’s a thread”
- 🙏 = “Please engage with my content”
Example:
🚀 Just shipped a new feature! 💡 Here’s what I learned: 🔥 Developers want good docs (who knew?!) 🧵 Thread on why documentation matters (1/47) 🙏 Grateful for this community
It’s like hieroglyphics for people who get paid to tweet.
The Thought Leadership Paradox
Every DevRel person is a “thought leader.” This is strange because thought leadership requires:
- Original thoughts
- Leadership
But 90% of DevRel LinkedIn is just:
- Rephrased tweets from Hacker News
- The same 5 opinions about REST vs GraphQL
- Motivational quotes about “loving the process”
Real example (paraphrased to protect the guilty):
“Hot take: Code reviews aren’t just about code. They’re about PEOPLE.”
Brother in Christ, that’s not a hot take. That’s the lukewarm consensus from 2009.
The Product Launch Cinematic Universe
When DevRel announces a product, it’s not a launch. It’s a multi-week narrative arc.
Week 1: Teaser
“Something big is coming. Can’t say what yet. But trust me. 👀”
Week 2: Behind-the-scenes
“The team has been working nights on this. Blood, sweat, and merge conflicts. Here’s a photo of our Slack channel at 2am.”
Week 3: The Launch
“Today we’re changing [THING]. Developers have suffered long enough. Not anymore.”
Week 4: The Metrics
”🚀 10,000 installs in 48 hours! 🔥 #1 on Hacker News! 💡 Featured in [OBSCURE NEWSLETTER]! 🙏 Humbled by the response.”
And the thing they launched? A CLI tool that does npx create-app with a different color scheme.
The Conference Photo Aesthetic
Every DevRel person has the same conference photo on LinkedIn:
- Standing on stage
- Slide visible in background (just blurry enough you can’t read it)
- Mid-gesture, like they’re conducting an orchestra
- Caption: “Grateful to speak at [CONFERENCE]!”
Bonus points if the slide visible in the background just says “Developer Experience” in 72pt font.
The “We’re Hiring” Trap
The most insidious genre of DevRel LinkedIn is the fake-casual job posting:
“Wild that a year ago I was burnt out at [BIG COMPANY].
Now I’m at [STARTUP] and we’re building something special.
Just opened a few roles. Not gonna lie, we’re looking for rockstars. 🚀
DM me if you vibe with chaos and YAML.”
Translation:
“We have funding and need engineers but our CEO said ‘make it authentic’ so here we are.”
The Comments Section Mutual Aid Society
Under every DevRel post is a chorus of other DevRel people saying:
- “This.”
- “So important.”
- “Needed this today.”
- “Couldn’t agree more!”
Nobody disagrees. Ever. It’s an upvote economy where everyone’s farming engagement from each other.
Occasionally someone challenges a post. The DevRel person responds:
“Love this pushback! That’s what makes our community great. Let’s continue this conversation offline.”
Which means: “You’re right but I can’t admit it publicly or the algorithm will punish me.”
The Dark Truth
Here’s the thing: DevRel people aren’t bad. They’re trapped.
Their job is to:
- Make developers like their product
- Prove they’re making developers like their product
- Generate metrics that justify their existence
So they post. And post. And post. Until the posting becomes the job.
And we — the developers — enable it. We like the posts. We comment “great stuff!” We retweet the threads. Because somewhere deep down, we’re all thinking:
“Maybe one day I’ll need a DevRel job and I should stay in the network.”
The Endgame
Eventually every DevRel person becomes what they feared most: a brand.
Their LinkedIn profile becomes an immaculate content machine. Every post optimized. Every comment strategic. Every emoji chosen with purpose.
They stop talking about code and start talking about “the developer journey.”
They write threads about “lessons from 10 years in DevRel” despite being 28.
They launch a course, a newsletter, a podcast, a Substack, a Discord, a “community.”
And then one day, they disappear. The posts stop. The profile goes quiet.
You check Twitter. They’ve changed their bio to “Building in public. More soon.”
They’ve become a founder.
The cycle continues.
The Mirror
Before you laugh too hard, check your own LinkedIn.
How many posts have you liked with a 🔥 emoji?
How many times have you commented “This resonates” without explaining why?
How many conference selfies are on your profile?
LinkedIn DevRel is cringe. But we’re all in the audience, clapping.
🙏 Grateful for this reflection.
This post would normally end with “What’s YOUR take on DevRel? Drop it below 👇” but I have a modicum of self-respect left.