Of Chickens and Pigs - The Dilemma of Creator Self Promotion

Ryan Carniato reflects on the challenges open-source creators face when promoting their work, drawing on personal experiences from music and JavaScript framework development. Using the Agile 'Chickens and Pigs' analogy, he explores the inherent bias creators have toward their own work and the difficulty of self-promotion without appearing disingenuous. He distinguishes between Creators (who build the original thing) and Meta-Creators (who create content about others' work), noting each plays a different role. His core insight is that self-promotion for creators is less about marketing tactics and more about building genuine relationships over time — relationships that ultimately determine whether disruptive ideas get a fair hearing or are dismissed outright.