[ms013]

I came to a similar realization a few years ago. I followed a number of people who were/are widely followed in parts of the FP community that are generally caustic, but I assumed their popularity implied that they had something useful to say. I eventually unfollowed/muted/blocked many of them because I reached a point where I realized I'm not dumb, I actually do know the domain pretty well, and I'm well regarded in that community, yet I think these people are just spewing hot air (either aggressively negative, confrontational, or self-promoting). To be honest, I don't think I've missed anything of any consequence since my block/mute/unfollow-fest. It does disappoint me when I look and see that some of these toxic personalities are still widely followed and still spewing the same garbage, even though I can't see any tangible contribution that they've made.

There are many who are good at making noise and opining, and even talking about wonderful "tech" that they are working on, but most of the "brilliant jerks" ultimately produce nothing of value and contribute nothing to the ecosystem.