feat: add blog post on welcoming questions in dev communities

cspell.json

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
         "vaxry",
         "waaaaaay",
         "Wyrm",
-        "Wyrms"
+        "Wyrms",
+        "yknow"
     ]
 }

package.json

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     "gray-matter": "4.0.3",
     "next": "16.1.6",
     "react": "19.2.4",
-    "react-dom": "19.2.5",
+    "react-dom": "19.2.4",
     "react-markdown": "10.1.0",
     "reading-time": "1.5.0",
     "rehype-highlight": "7.0.2",

pnpm-lock.yaml

@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@ importers:
         version: 4.0.3
       next:
         specifier: 16.1.6
-        version: 16.1.6(@babel/core@7.29.0)(react-dom@19.2.5(react@19.2.4))(react@19.2.4)
+        version: 16.1.6(@babel/core@7.29.0)(react-dom@19.2.4(react@19.2.4))(react@19.2.4)
       react:
         specifier: 19.2.4
         version: 19.2.4
       react-dom:
-        specifier: 19.2.5
+        specifier: 19.2.4
-        version: 19.2.5(react@19.2.4)
+        version: 19.2.4(react@19.2.4)
       react-markdown:
         specifier: 10.1.0
         version: 10.1.0(@types/react@19.2.14)(react@19.2.4)
@@ -2650,6 +2650,9 @@ packages:
   lru-cache@5.1.1:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-KpNARQA3Iwv+jTA0utUVVbrh+Jlrr1Fv0e56GGzAFOXN7dk/FviaDW8LHmK52DlcH4WP2n6gI8vN1aesBFgo9w==}
 
+  magic-string@0.30.17:
+    resolution: {integrity: sha512-sNPKHvyjVf7gyjwS4xGTaW/mCnF8wnjtifKBEhxfZ7E/S8tQ0rssrwGNn6q8JH/ohItJfSQp9mBtQYuTlH5QnA==}
+
   magic-string@0.30.21:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-vd2F4YUyEXKGcLHoq+TEyCjxueSeHnFxyyjNp80yg0XV4vUhnDer/lvvlqM/arB5bXQN5K2/3oinyCRyx8T2CQ==}
 
@@ -3019,10 +3022,10 @@ packages:
   queue-microtask@1.2.3:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-NuaNSa6flKT5JaSYQzJok04JzTL1CA6aGhv5rfLW3PgqA+M2ChpZQnAC8h8i4ZFkBS8X5RqkDBHA7r4hej3K9A==}
 
-  react-dom@19.2.5:
+  react-dom@19.2.4:
-    resolution: {integrity: sha512-J5bAZz+DXMMwW/wV3xzKke59Af6CHY7G4uYLN1OvBcKEsWOs4pQExj86BBKamxl/Ik5bx9whOrvBlSDfWzgSag==}
+    resolution: {integrity: sha512-AXJdLo8kgMbimY95O2aKQqsz2iWi9jMgKJhRBAxECE4IFxfcazB2LmzloIoibJI3C12IlY20+KFaLv+71bUJeQ==}
     peerDependencies:
-      react: ^19.2.5
+      react: ^19.2.4
 
   react-is@16.13.1:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-24e6ynE2H+OKt4kqsOvNd8kBpV65zoxbA4BVsEOB3ARVWQki/DHzaUoC5KuON/BiccDaCCTZBuOcfZs70kR8bQ==}
@@ -4781,7 +4784,7 @@ snapshots:
     dependencies:
       '@vitest/spy': 3.0.3
       estree-walker: 3.0.3
-      magic-string: 0.30.21
+      magic-string: 0.30.17
     optionalDependencies:
       vite: 6.0.11(@types/node@24.10.13)(jiti@2.6.1)(lightningcss@1.31.1)(yaml@2.8.2)
 
@@ -4797,7 +4800,7 @@ snapshots:
   '@vitest/snapshot@3.0.3':
     dependencies:
       '@vitest/pretty-format': 3.0.3
-      magic-string: 0.30.21
+      magic-string: 0.30.17
       pathe: 2.0.2
 
   '@vitest/spy@3.0.3':
@@ -6446,6 +6449,10 @@ snapshots:
     dependencies:
       yallist: 3.1.1
 
+  magic-string@0.30.17:
+    dependencies:
+      '@jridgewell/sourcemap-codec': 1.5.0
+
   magic-string@0.30.21:
     dependencies:
       '@jridgewell/sourcemap-codec': 1.5.5
@@ -6825,7 +6832,7 @@ snapshots:
 
   natural-compare@1.4.0: {}
 
-  next@16.1.6(@babel/core@7.29.0)(react-dom@19.2.5(react@19.2.4))(react@19.2.4):
+  next@16.1.6(@babel/core@7.29.0)(react-dom@19.2.4(react@19.2.4))(react@19.2.4):
     dependencies:
       '@next/env': 16.1.6
       '@swc/helpers': 0.5.15
@@ -6833,7 +6840,7 @@ snapshots:
       caniuse-lite: 1.0.30001695
       postcss: 8.4.31
       react: 19.2.4
-      react-dom: 19.2.5(react@19.2.4)
+      react-dom: 19.2.4(react@19.2.4)
       styled-jsx: 5.1.6(@babel/core@7.29.0)(react@19.2.4)
     optionalDependencies:
       '@next/swc-darwin-arm64': 16.1.6
@@ -7026,7 +7033,7 @@ snapshots:
 
   queue-microtask@1.2.3: {}
 
-  react-dom@19.2.5(react@19.2.4):
+  react-dom@19.2.4(react@19.2.4):
     dependencies:
       react: 19.2.4
       scheduler: 0.27.0
@@ -7672,7 +7679,7 @@ snapshots:
       chai: 5.1.2
       debug: 4.4.3
       expect-type: 1.1.0
-      magic-string: 0.30.21
+      magic-string: 0.30.17
       pathe: 2.0.2
       std-env: 3.8.0
       tinybench: 2.9.0

posts/scared-to-ask-questions.md

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+---
+title: "a dev community where people are scared to ask questions is not a community~"
+date: "2026-06-10"
+summary: "if people are scared to ask questions, it is not a community."
+---
+
+a dev community where people are scared to ask questions is not a community~
+
+i run the community spaces for a charity in the developer education space if people are not comfortable asking questions the entire thing falls apart
+
+so like it is not just making people feel welcome and comfortable and happy but it is also ensuring that the friction of participating does not outweigh the benefits
+
+in our industry it is especially important to be cognisant of this because like we have a history of gatekeeping and treating knowledge like its wealth or something yknow how sometimes the way new developers are met is with condescension
+
+anyway communities that wanna be chill vibes still end up with vibes that are kinda hostile towards the next generation a lil so i encourage you to keep that in mind~
+
+so how do we fix it naomi well that is a very good question lets do some ideation!!!
+
+my first thought is that having a strong (volunteer) moderation team who can help address the more hostile or aggressive developer feedback to ease some of the internal tensions that we face would be a huge boon
+
+strong and explicit community policy is a must like you gotta have a good code of conduct and such but also your team need to *embody* that policy they gotta walk the walk with consistent and effective moderation and talk the talk in the way they conduct their interactions in the community
+
+depending on how many your community is you may benefit from having dedicated spaces for the newer generation of developers to ask their questions in a judgement free space without having to see the seniors asking much more complex questions if that makes sense
+
+naomi we have kpis and some other thing we have to do numbers!!!! okay that is fine let me help you do some numbers~
+
+first one is member retention - more specifically, what percentage of your members who ask their first help question return to ask another????
+
+second one is community driven engagement - are the help questions being answered by community members before you can even respond?????
+
+and how about your diversity in participants especially across skill levels (and marginalised identities of course) are the folks who are oft under-represented more equally distributed in your demographics?????????
+
+without these in place your community will never be able to thrive~