As expected of such a dominating framework, it has a vast, millions strong community that gives unparalleled support. Some React-related communities with thousands of members each include, but are not limited to:
DEV’s React community
Hashnode’s React community
Reactiflux online chat
Reddit’s React community
Spectrum’s React community.
This level of support shows how React is one of the most preferred open source frameworks used in the development of dynamic web applications. Its impeccable ability to speed up the development process and the fact that it offers unmatched flexibility makes it a sought-after programming tool. As such, it is no surprise that tech giants like Facebook trust React for their web development needs.
To get reliable information, stay up-to-date with related trends, and network with the best in the field, knowing React authorities is essential and that is where we come in. We have compiled an updated list of the top 20 React influencers in 2022. These talented React experts have had a profound contribution to the React programming world and truly deserve to be on this list. Let us delve into specifics.
1. Lydia Hallie
Here is an interesting and very influential lady to keep an eye on when it comes to React and JavaScript as a whole. Indeed the over five thousand developers following her in Github are doing so for good reasons.
Here is what you need to know:
Lydia is an independent software engineer who has described herself as having no “life.” She dedicates most of her time to either writing code or creating and sharing helpful computer and web content. Despite her sentiments, many developers would argue that having a 6.2k followership, an authoritative blog, and highly regarded contributions to React and JavaScript as a whole is “the life!”
Between January and October 2021 alone, Lydia gave over 1,659 JavaScript contributions, including the React.js framework. Outstanding, right? Within this period, she has contributed to many repositories. The following are two random examples that showcase her expertise.
- lydiahallie/javascript-questions - a comprehensive and long list of advanced JavaScript questions and explanations with over 38,800 stars and about 5,200 forks on Github. Here is an example of the multiple-choice questions from Lydia:
What's the output?
function sayHi() {
console.log(name);
console.log(age);
var name = 'Lydia';
let age = 21;
}
sayHi();
A: Lydia and undefined
B: Lydia and ReferenceError
C: ReferenceError and 21
D: undefined and ReferenceError
Answer: D
“Within the function, we first declare the name variable with the var keyword. This means that the variable gets hoisted (memory space is set up during the creation phase) with the default value of undefined until we actually get to the line where we define the variable. We haven't defined the variable yet on the line where we try to log the name variable, so it still holds the value of undefined.
Variables with the let keyword (and const) are hoisted, but unlike var, don't get initialized. They are not accessible before the line we declare (initialize) them. This is called the "temporal dead zone". When we try to access the variables before they are declared, JavaScript throws a ReferenceError.”
Another significant aspect of this excellent repo is that anyone is free to use it in their project! But just remember to give credit where it is due and recognize Lydia’s hard work. Follow her on Instagram for a consistent dose of these questions on her stories.
/client for the React frontend
/server for the Express backend
Currently, Lydia’s overall activity includes 89% commits, 3% code review, and 8% pull requests. In September 2021, Lydia managed to have 251 contributions in private repositories and over 600 since the beginning of the year.
There is a lot more to learn from Lydia just by networking with her. So, why not follow her on social media, read her blog, and test yourself with her multiple-choice questions. Here are her social handles:
Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Github
2. Paul O’Shannessy
Originally from Seattle, WA, Paul O’Shannessy is another top React influencer with over 3,5k followers and 168 contributions in the last year. As a veteran software developer, he works at Facebook's open-source program where he extensively works with React.js. He has also honed his skills, establishing himself as an expert in other programming languages. Though his scope of work is not limited to React, he does a lot of projects with it.
Within the last year, Paul has made over 168 contributions to the community. His activity includes 25% commits, 50% code reviews, and 25% pull requests. Paul has ties with prominent organizations in the field like Reactjs, Facebook experiments, and Facebook research. Here are some examples of his contributions and work:
zpao/qrcode.react - this is a <QRCode/> component for React with over 2.6k stars and 255 forks on Github.
facebook/react - to build user interfaces, one needs an efficient, flexible and declarative JavaScript library. This is one such library with over 176k stars and 35 600 forks on Github.
facebook/draft-js - here is a React framework that builds text editors. It has a strong following with over 20.9 thousand stars and 2.5 thousand forks.
reactjs/express-react-views - When you need an Express view engine that renders React components on the server, Paul’s got you! His contribution renders static markup and doesn’t support mounting those views on the client.
If all this doesn’t spell “influential” and “must-follow” to you in the React realm, I don’t know what will. So, here is where you can keep updated on Paul’s contributions and follow him online.
Twitter | Blog | Github
3. Diego Fernandes
You cannot discuss developers driven to change people’s lives one code at a time without mentioning Diego Fernandes. Diego has a great passion for education made apparent in his blog and training. Yes, he is a trainer. This React expert has trained over 200,000 individuals.
Diego Fernandes is a Rocketseat CTO with resilience written all over him. He believes that persistence and determination are powerful enough for success. As a natural leader, it is no surprise that he has a 20.3K strong following on Github and 23.2k on Twitter. By October 2021, he had made over 867 contributions.
Breaking down his most recent contributions, in September 2021, Diego made 49 contributions in private repositories, created 5 commits in 2 repositories and created 1 repository. Part of Diego’s achievements in 2021 also include creating an issue in maykbrito/mini-video-me.
Here is one of Diego’s top contributions to React:
unform/unform - an API focused on performance for React forms.
Here are the recent commits he made in repositories:
diego3g/umbriel
234 commits
diego3g/ rocketrendis
149 commits
diego3g/electron-typescript-react
47 commits
diego3g/responsive-native
21 commits
Whether you are a novice or understand the intricacies of React, Diego is a developer to follow. As an education-minded developer, you are sure to learn a lot that will help you perfect your coding skills. Below are his social media handles. Contact, follow and engage with him; he is only a click away.
LinkedIn | Blog | Email | Twitter | Github
4. Dan Abramov
A top developer with massive contributions, Dan is a very influential individual within the React community. He has made over 1509 contributions in 2021. These contributions include; 13 commits in 2 repositories; a pull in facebook/react that received 6 comments; 4 other pull requests in 1 repository; reviewed 20 pull requests in 2 repositories; and created 1 repository. All which happened in September 2021.
Dan has over 305.7k followers on Twitter and 69.2k on Github and is associated with giant organizations like Facebook, Babel, and React.js. His influence and work will be felt in the community for ages, as he has contributed to several repositories in the Arctic Code Vault. The Arctic Code Vault is a Github Archive program preserving open-source software for future generations.
To follow Dan and possibly network with him, find him on:
Twitter | Github
5. React
With one of their most recent posts, React announced on Twitter that React 18 (their next major release) will include several new exciting features and improvements, much to the joy of React developers. The over 1.5k retweets reflected this, and the almost 5,000 likes the post received.
This is only an example of the relevant and must-know information that comes through this React Twitter channel. By following it, you are sure to get informative reads that help you stay on top of your programming game. Currently, React has over 2,000 tweets and over 522k followers on Twitter.
Twitter | Website | Blog | Community
6. Sebastian Markbåge
Sebastian lives in New York, works for Facebook, and is associated with organizations like Instagram, MooTools, and Calyptus Life AB.
He is a member of the React team working on the React 18 release and one of the best React experts today. Tapping into his knowledge and experience is a privilege not to surpass. He has over 10K personal tweets on Twitter with over 56.8K followers. Not only does he care about positively impacting this generation’s programmers, he also contributes to several repositories in the Arctic code vault, making sure future generations will have access to open-source software as we do today.
With at least 496 contributions in the last year on GitHub and over 6K followers, Sebastian is one of the React experts indeed worth following in 2022 and you can follow him through the links below.
Github | Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter
7. Ray Wenderlich
Ray is a well-known developer and a great leader. He has a pool of talented software developers and editors working with him. We highly recommend following him if you are looking to develop your programming career. He is one of the people who are focused on helping others further develop their coding skills. On his Twitter, you can find React, among other tutorials you can leverage to hone your coding skills.
Currently, Ray has over 75.6k followers on his Twitter account. He has a podcast on his website, where he shares about two releases each month. His Youtube channel also has tutorial releases biweekly. With Ray, you can never run dry of consistent wholesome content across all platforms. Connect with Ray on the following platforms:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Website | Youtube
8. Greg Bergé
Greg is a React & JavaScript enthusiast. He has a passion for teaching these two programming languages and is also an influential speaker. Greg is currently trending for producing open-source projects that have gained the trust of thousands of developers worldwide. Apart from his achievements in contributing to Github’s archive program, he is also sponsoring three organizations and developers.
Since January 2021, Greg Bergé made over 2,642 contributions. His contribution activity includes 41% commits, 41% code reviews, and 18% pull requests to about eight repositories. One such repository is gregberge/xstyled. This repo is a utility-first CSS-in-JS framework built for React with over 1,800 stars and 89 forks on Github.
Greg is involved with organizations like Shipit, Argos CI, and Smooth code. Currently, he has a followership 1,400 strong on GitHub with 1,700 stars and over 2,600 Twitter followers. Greg claims to help people make the web great, which is evident in his work, blog, and social media. He is very active on Twitter and posts almost every day. Follow him or network with him on the platforms below.
Twitter | Blog | Github
9. Ryan Florence
If you are familiar with a standard routing library in React called React Router, you are familiar with the work of one of the highly-ranked software developers. Ryan spreads his influence in React to the over 108K followers he has on Twitter, and the 7.3K on GitHub. He has gained such a followership and great achievements by “Doing my best.” Ryan is a Co-Founder of Remix Software, CEO at React Training and is a member of the GitHub Archives program for code conservation. Furthermore, he is associated with Reach — the accessible foundation for React apps and design systems.
Ryan developed Remix.run together with Michael Jackson. This is a platform that helps in the building of better websites. To follow Ryan and learn from him, collaborate on projects or network, click on a link of your choice below. He delivers top, relevant content for all interested in React at any level. You are assured of people-oriented quality content as he loves people, learning and teaching.
Twitter | Github | LinkedIn | Remix.run
10. Andrew Clark
Is currently part of the React core at Facebook. His over 56K followers on Twitter and about 9.1K on GitHub testify to him being a trendsetter and a must-follow within the realms of React. Andrew has over 820 contributions in the last year. He recently created two commits in Facebook/react and received 4 comments in a pull request. In addition to his work with Facebook, Andrew contributes to the Github archive program to preserve code for future generations of developers. Some of the 71 repositories he contributes to include:
recompose - this is “A React utility belt for function components and higher-order components” that has over 14,800 stars and about 1.3k forks on GitHub.
react - this was forked from Facebook/react and has 25 stars and over 35.6k forks.
react-fiber-architecture - this description of React's new core algorithm (React Fiber) has about 9k stars and 345 forks.
With over 19.5K tweets, following Andrew on Twitter means you will have a good amount of top React information to help grow your career or simply enjoy the online company of a fellow knowledgeable developer. Follow Andrew Clark and his work through the links below.
Twitter | GitHub | Website | LinkedIn
11. Gaëtan Renaudeau
Gaëtan is a notable software programmer working at Ledger on Ledger Live as a tech lead developer. He spends his mornings gardening and nights creative coding (shaders, plots). As if not enough, Gaëtan is the creator of gl-react and gl-transitions. As a developer with a consistent blog on Github with daily content, Gre is a must-follow React developer in 2022. Not only does he share his thoughts, ideas, and work, he also informs his followers when there are open positions at Ledger.
So far, in 2021, Gaëtan has made over 3,000 contributions. His activity comprises 59% commits, 19% code review, and 22% pull requests.in September 2021 he created 132 commits in 5 repositories. He is also one of the contributors to the Arctic code vault.
Gre has answered two discussions on Github, and in addition to Ledger, he is associated with organizations like Stackgl, and GL -transitions. Follow him on the platforms below.
Github | Twitter | Blog
12. Drcmda
Drcmda has a significant influence in the world of React in 2022. This developer’s Twitter account is always buzzing with updates and information no React enthusiast would want to miss. Drcmda has 2k followers on Github and 19.3k on Twitter, which only confirms he is a master in his craft.
This year alone, drcmda has made over 1,380 contributions with 86% commits, 1% code review, 5% pull requests and 8% issues. An excellent example of a top repository by drcmda is the famous pmndrs/react-spring, a spring physics-based React animation library. drcmda/floating-shoe is his current trending repository that is worth checking out. Do not miss out on any new releases, updates, news, discussions, and more from drcmda. Follow these handles below.
Github | Twitter
13. Max Schmitt
How often do you run into a top developer who loves cats, and his birthday happens to be on international cat day? Well, I would say never, only if you have met Max Schmitt.
Apart from showing his undying love for cats, Max is a regular writer on playwright.tech. Being one who loves a challenge, Max is always ready to tackle any questions on React. To highlight this attribute, Max has answered about 15 discussions in Github’s developer program.
With over 3.031 contributions this year, following Max only has advantages. His contributions have a distribution of 37% commits, 31% code review, 29% pull requests, and 3% issues. Apart from playwright, Max has worked with organizations like React bootstrap, Microsoft, and Sinusbot. Follow Max via the following handles.
GitHub | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email
14. Rachel Nabors
“You are awesome“ - a message from Rachel to you. This is the kind of person Rachel is. They see the good in people and love to help cultivate their confidence in themselves by words of encouragement and by sharing their story. Today, Rachel has more than 30.5K followers on Twitter and about 780 on GitHub. However, their rise to influencerdom in React is no typical journey. They started as an animator in Virginia to become a member of the Facebook React core, which they describe as a fire worth burning for. They are featured in the ReadMe podcast with the title “From comics in Virginia to React core at Facebook.” If you follow Rachel, you are assured their twitter page is no boring place with over 91K tweets from a knowledgeable individual with a passion to learn, teach, share their story and network.
On GitHub you will find that Rachel has made more than 38 contributions in the last year. One of her popular repositories is women-of-react-website with five contributors. In addition, they are a member of the GitHub archive program. If you are looking for a strong willed, developer who stops at nothing to reach their goals, Rachel is the right person to follow or network with. Armed with their life savings from a job as a waitress, Rachel bought a laptop thinking to themself “if I buy the laptop and have the internet connection I can just bring the world to me” and they did it so well. Below are links for where you can follow this awesome illustrator, developer, teacher, author, and speaker to gain something from their vast experience. Reach out on LinkedIn for paid consulting, contracting and freelancing, or a cup of coffee.
Twitter | GitHub | LinkedIn | Website
15. React Newsletter
One cannot go wrong with a weekly publication loved by over 15,000 developers worldwide with 60.7k followers on Twitter. This free newsletter will keep you up to date on the latest React news, resources, tutorials, and more. Subscribe and expect delivery every Tuesday without fail.
This newsletter is run by ui.dev, a website dedicated to tutoring everything within the Javascript ecosystem. This includes React, React with Typescript, React Hooks, React Router V4, and React Router V5. You can follow Alex Anderson (an applauded instructor in these courses) and the Newsletter through these links:
Ui Dev: Twitter | Website
React Newsletter: Twitter | Website
Alex Anderson: Github | Blog
16. ReactDOM
A newsletter with over 200 issues, ReactDom is another popular publication with over 11 thousand followers on Twitter. It specifically covers React and React Native topics with a primary focus on tutoring developers. It was curated by Adeeb Rahman, who has made this a reliable source of knowledge and information on both platforms. In 2021, ReactDom still maintains a steady flow of posts on its website and Twitter page, making it a must-follow for all React-orientated developers. Check out their work and follow them here:
ReactDom: Website | Twitter
Adeeb Rahman: Twitter | GitHub
17. Brian Vaughn
Another must-have developer on a React influencer list in 2022 is Brian Vaughn. 7.5K follow him on Github and 42.4K on Twitter because he is part of the Reactjs core team and is always active in the React community. His dedication can be seen in his 1,281 contributions in the last year comprising 28% commits, 40% code reviews, 16% pull requests and 16% issues. Some popular repositories of his include:
In addition, Brian contributes to Github's Archive program and is sponsoring a developer since 2019. On Twitter, he writes about music, running and React. To be constantly in touch with new developments and get helpful content, follow Brian Vaughn on the platforms below.
Twitter | Github | Website | LinkedIn
18. Ben Awad
Ben is a professional developer at the top of his game. He needs little to no introduction to many familiar with React influencers. Ben Awad is your go-to guy when in need of React tutoring videos. Ben has 353 thousand subscribers on Youtube, with some of his latest videos having over 100 thousand views in less than a fortnight. He recently released an hour-long video titled “intermediate React.js coding interview,” which was a success. You can expect video releases from Ben almost every week.
Examples of React playlists he has created include React concurrent mode (5 videos) and React hooks tutorial (8 videos) among others. Going through the comments on Ben’s Youtube videos, comments like “I’m a simple guy. I see a new video about React from Ben Awad, I watch it” and “Thanks for being consistent 🙏🏽,” are only proof of his dedication to his work. And, yes, Ben is consistent across all platforms.
This year, Ben has almost 3,000 contributions with 99% commits and 1% Issues so far. He has contributed to about eight repositories during this period. On Github, Ben Awad has over 22.8 thousand followers and is a contributor to the Arctic code vault. Following Ben on Twitter means tapping into a great stream of posts as he tweets almost every day. Well, the following line goes without saying. Follow Ben, and you will not regret it. Use the buttons below and thank me later.
Twitter | Github | LinkedIn | Youtube | Patreon | Tik Tok
19. DevelopedbyEd
Dev Ed, as he likes to be called, is one of the super influential developers. Though he has just 9 contributions in 2021, he makes this list comfortably due to his vast influence on youtube and his website, where he creates consistent tutoring content. On Youtube, Dev Ed has 701K subscribers and over 34 million total views! In his videos, he covers personal struggles as a developer, technical development tips, tutorials, and more. One of Dev Ed’s top playlists is “React tutorial for beginners.” In the past few months, there have been comments like:
“I'm a backend engineer and need to study React. I've been searching a lot and it was very hard for me... I just found this and I am astonished by how easy you made me understand. I love everything about how you made this video! Please, more like this! Would be amazing to have a list moving to next steps'’ - fedepia84 .
“This is the best React video hands down. I was lost in the docs until I found you.” - Diroma Diroma.
“Dude you just saved me from struggling on a React project. Thank you so much!” - Jason Saini
Dev Ed focuses on creativity in development. You can see this theme throughout his social platforms, where you can follow him to network, share ideas or learn from him. Follow DevelopedbyEd through the following links:
Twitter | Github | Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube | Patreon | Blog
20. Sara Vieira
Currently working at CodeSandbox, Sara is a fun loving nerd who uses her software developing skills to make useless stuff for the “funsies.” However, don’t let that fool you, Sara is an amazing React developer with about 1,339 contributions in the last year on GitHub. One of her top React repos is pmndrs/react-three-fiber - a React renderer for Three.js with over 15.4K stars and about 816 forks. She is affiliated to about 10 organizations on GitHub and contributes to the code archive program. In addition to her contributions in preservation of code for future generations, she also supports five developers as a sponsor and countless others as an influential developer to look up to.
Her influence is evidenced by the 3.4K who follow her on GitHub and 36.8K on Twitter. Those who follow her already know of her highly recommended opinionated guide to React book which is a must read. As noted earlier, Sara Vieira is not all work and no play. She is an avid football fan and loves watching movies. Therefore when you follow her on social media, expect a total package of great software development advice, insights, and news on her projects, as well as fun content for your enjoyment. Sara currently lives in Berlin, Germany with her wife Alejandra. Here is where you can follow or network with Sara:
GitHub | Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
21. Ideamotive blog.
Yes, we have a number 21 on a list of 20. Ideamotive is a staple on the list of top React blogs, and including it among the twenty would shut out some new influencers worth a mention. So, here is this year’s reminder that the Ideamotive blog is the ultimate, ideal place to stay well informed on React and almost all other programming frameworks and languages. As you have noticed, most influencers on this list are individuals. For this blog, it is run and maintained by a team of React developers working on global projects. This is an IT firm with a five-star Clutch rating and is known to deliver top-of-the-range products.
Therefore, expect a consistent stream of top-quality and informative articles on this blog. Ideamotive covers a wide range of topics, including advice on the finest open-source React developer tools, best React resources, and other well-researched up-to-date lists like the best Java experts and blogs to follow.
Ideamotive is more than an influential blog. It is one of the most impactful and highly-rated companies that can help grow your software development career. With Ideamotive you get to network and work with experts on Java, Ruby, Javascript, and other languages, designing innovative, top-of-the-range, custom web, and mobile solutions. In addition, our vast match making experience means we can link developers of all levels and skill to projects that meet and surpass their expectations. Follow Ideamotive on Twitter and keep tabs on our blog for a source of unending inspiration, opportunities and growth.
Conclusion
As the React community continues to grow, there is an ever increasing need for identifying experts, influential individuals, and blogs to provide guidance, networking opportunities and growth for developers around the world. From Lydia to the Ideamotive blog, this list includes individuals and blogs we trust with the growth of our developers. They have achieved great success evidenced by their contributions to the React community and reflected in the thousands of developers following them for inspiration and support. There isn’t any on this list that is any less important.
However, the Ideamotive blog stands out for running an extensive network of developers, little software houses and freelance contractors. We are accelerating the future of technology by creating space for tech professionals to gather, grow, and develop while being a conduit for companies to attract these talents.
What we offer:
- Access to an elite, active community for tech and business professionals to communicate, share information, and learn through social events, thought leadership, and formal networking events.
- Skills development through professional training and resources.
- Amazing projects at all levels. If you are looking for impactful projects for international startups, join the Ideamotive Talent, get matched with awesome projects, grow your career, and work on your terms.
Your personal, career, and company growth is just a click away with Ideamotive. Don’t hesitate to contact us right now. We are here for you.
