I like my privacy and I am not very social either. But I do like to connect with people and talk tech. Any tips how I could leverage the social media and blogging without really sharing much of my personal life? Am I looking at the wrong blogs for inspiration and ideas?
I don't think social media matters as much as being seen as someone who does things when you are in a real social situation. One handshake from an interesting person, like, say, Paul McMahon (who cofounded Doorkeeper and worked on Ruby) or Patio11, felt more important to me than 10k social media likes. (I purposely picked people who had nothing to do with my work career)
I don't know how applicable any of this is, especially with the invasion of nerd spaces by bullies. However, there are always people who need skilled coworkers, and finding sincere places to show these skills will always be helpful.
I guess here too quality matters over quantity. Publish less, network less but make sure its relevant and valuable.
With so much noise in the field currently, its hard to know if you too are part of it and finding the right platform/places to make sure you are providing value thats appreciated.
Set a reminder, once a week, to look at your LinkedIn. Ping someone you actually know, just to say hi. This keeps you fresh in their minds as someone who does X, and is still alive.
Finally, if you want to expand your network, just ask these same people if they know anyone else doing X and then send them a hello.
Very low-effort and direct contact is 100x more powerful than a blog post anyway!