All knowledge produced by human beings contains a level of opinion and bias; it is natural and impossible to be completely removed from the equation. However, over time, the concept has always been to try to minimize this as much as possible, creating more complex works that leave interpretation and evaluation to the reader. In the field of programming, this concept has been inherited from other areas of science.
But there is an increasing trend for content to be opinions rather than a demonstration and construction of knowledge, a process accelerated by social media. Many recent works in the software development field have ceased to be accounts of historical facts or demonstrations of knowledge and have transitioned to a process of ready-made opinions. The reader has been transformed into a fan who believes in the same things as the author (or comes to believe them after reading), and anyone who disagrees is considered inferior. If an influencer says that Technology A will die, their fans defend it because they must be right. It’s an exaggerated trust in strangers
This process, in my opinion, occurs because the world is becoming more complex every day in every way, and software development is a field of knowledge with almost infinite possibilities. You can be a Web Developer, Mobile Developer, Full Stack Developer, or specialize in IoT, using different frameworks for each. So, it’s in our nature to seek references and models to follow; the brain is a machine for simplifying tasks. Being critical and studying can be exhausting, so optimizing this process is natural.
Your point is that the majority of these guides on social media are creating content to feed algorithms that are based on audience targeting for advertising. Opinions are just that, opinions. However, social media algorithms favor controversial opinions because they generate double engagement: those who agree share and defend, and those who disagree also generate engagement by sharing and trying to prove the opinion wrong.
In the end, there are no influencers, only the influenced. You are influenced by someone who is influenced by engagement metrics, and those who determine these metrics are not concerned with the content you are consuming but only with generating sales for companies.
There are exceptions in this whole process, of course, but they are exactly that – exceptions.
Generating knowledge is difficult, complex, and often a path that leads nowhere. Be mindful of what you consume as knowledge, but in the end, it’s all opinion. Even this text is just my opinion – you may agree or disagree with it. Take time to reflect on what is being presented in reality.
In the end, we come out the same as at the end of this post, neither more enlightened nor less.
Thanks,