The Decline of Technical Influencers (Ep 96)

Prompted by some content on “How to Succeed in DevRel” that was clearly AI produced, Jason, PJ, and Wesley go down the rabbit hole of how developers are affected by AI generated content, what the real value of AI content is to developers, and a few points on what exactly the value is of creating content for AI instead of human developers. Checkouts Wesley Faulkner Twilight Zone episode PJ Hagerty Asimov’s I, Robot (not the movie) Jason Hand J’s hackathon project Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village. Artwork by Nahrizul Kadri on Unsplash

In this year-end episode, we’re reflecting on our 2025 DevRel conversations and the themes that defined the year. We revisit key insights from our guests, look at how the DevRel landscape continued to evolve, and call out the lessons that showed up again and again across our episodes. It’s also a moment to thank our guests and listeners who made the show possible. Whether you joined us for one episode or all of them, this wrap-up looks back on where DevRel has been in 2025 and ahead to what’s coming next. Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village. Artwork by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash.

Our lived experiences often inform our work. This is true in the world of DevRel as well. Whether you have organized a church group, been in a band, or put together a big party - some of those experiences will leak over into how you see community and how you work in the Developer Relations world. Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village.

We’re reflecting on how the show has evolved, from adding Pulse and tightening our structure to getting comfortable recording without guests. We also look back at the biggest shifts in DevRel over the past decade (no, you can’t say AI), share thoughts on where the industry is headed, and dig into highlights from the Decade of DevRel report. Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village.

It’s been 10 years since the start of Community Pulse and, appropriately enough, we’ve reached the milestone of 100 episodes. To celebrate, we invited Jono Bacon -- our very first guest on the show -- and SJ Morris -- a former host of the show -- to join us and reminisce about changes in the DevRel industry as well as how we’ve changed personally and professionally over the last 10 years. We’ll laugh a little… cry a little… and as always, learn a lot along the way. Checkouts Jason Bono Primalbranding by Patrick Hanlon and Hooked by Nir Eyal - awesome books, very relevant Attio / OpusClip / Anam - awesome tools Stateshift MobLand on Paramount+ SJ Morris Developers, Reinvented Design from the Margins Wesley Faulkner Kitten TTS Add Bluesky comments and likes to your blog PJ Hagerty The AI Con - How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want by Emily M Bender and Alex Hanna Tyler the Creator - Don’t Tap the Glass Jason Hand Anyone can Play Music by Josh Turknett ai-tools-lab.com LLM Observability Learning Course (FREE) Mary Thengvall Upcoming book that I had a preview of and am very excited about (coming from Apress in early 2026)! Developer Relations Activity Patterns: A Unified Approach to Devrel, DX and Community Management by Scott McAllister, David Neal, Ted Neward, and Chris Woodruff Fun (random) things have made me smile lately: Miniature Cheese Graters Lapel Pins Special Guests: Jono Bacon and SJ Morris.

In this episode, Jason, Wesley, and Mary share some of our favorite tools of the trade—from live streaming setups and demo-building tricks to the software and hardware we rely on for recording videos and tracking metrics. Join us for a practical, behind-the-scenes look at the gear and workflows that help us connect with developers and communities every day. Categories Building & Managing Websites Hugo Astro Form Bricks Local Recall SquareSpace Eleventy Data, metrics, and knowledge sharing Airtable Common Room Metabase Scheduling meetings Cal.com Fantastical LiveStreaming & video recording and editing Streamyard Riverside.fm OBS OpenShot Audacity VLC Descript Otter Meeting Agent - AI Notetaker, Transcription, Insights Automation tools n8n Zapier IFTTT Forums Slack Discourse Podcast hosting Fireside Building demos Claude Code Lovable Cursor LocalAI Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village. Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash.

Sometimes work stretches beyond “normal” hours, and while we might welcome that when we’re energized by the project, other times it’s a real struggle. In this episode, Jason, PJ, and Mary unpack the difference between working late because we love the job versus doing it just to meet a deadline. They also explore how to recognize when those long hours are a sign of a toxic environment or poor prioritization—and what we can do to push back. Photo by Mohammad Alizade on Unsplash. Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village.

"Vibe coding" is gaining traction as a new way to approach software development—but what does it actually mean? In this episode, we unpack the term, explore how it's shaping the developer experience, and examine its potential to transform developer relations. We'll break down the pros and cons, from faster workflows to new challenges in communication and code quality, and discuss what this shift means for DevRel professionals today and in the future. Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village.

There has been a lot of chat about the decline of the tech influencer. Where have they all gone? Is tech influence too heavy or too light? PJ, Mary, Wesley, and Jason share their opinions about “capital I” Influencers and where DevRel falls into all of this. Checkouts PJ Hagerty Take vacations. Fyre Festival 2 is real and can hurt you. Jason Hand Stitched video Original video AI “slop” article AI Tools Lab Mary Thengvall awesome (fictional) books that have stuck with me lately: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Cover art photo by Diggity Marketing on Unsplash. Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village.

Communicating the message is only part of the job of a DevRel practitioner - there’s also the method. Ensuring you share the same alignment and you are seen as a member of the community is even more important than being able to educate a community. In this episode we’ll look at the importance of keeping yourself humble and keeping the message sincere in order to find success within the tech world. "Sit down. Be Humble” - Kendrick Lamar Checkouts Chris DeMars Off the Hook Wesley Faulkner Wear Extra Fingers - Life Hack PJ Hagerty Shoalin - the WuTang board game WuTang Final Tour with Run the Jewels Artwork photo by Merve Sehirli Nasir on Unsplash. Enjoy the podcast? Please take a few moments to leave us a review on iTunes and follow us on Spotify, or leave a review on one of the other many podcasting sites that we’re on! Your support means a lot to us and helps us continue to produce episodes every month. Like all things Community, this too takes a village.Special Guest: Chris DeMars.