Deciding Not to Build in Public

The Appeal of Building in Public

I’m seeing many developers on Twitter and YouTube building in public:

• Sharing daily progress
• Writing threads about what they’re learning
• Posting videos of coding sessions
• Growing audiences and getting opportunities

It seems like a smart strategy: build an audience while learning, get feedback, and hold myself accountable.

Trying It Out

I’m trying building in public for a few weeks:

• Tweeting about what I’m learning
• Sharing project updates
• Writing about problems I’m solving
• Posting screenshots of progress

I also experiment with AI assistants to summarize ideas and draft technical notes, so I spend less time formatting updates and more time learning.

The Problems

I’m quickly noticing issues:

Time-consuming: Writing tweets and posts is taking time away from actual learning and building.

Distracting: I’m spending mental energy thinking about what to post instead of focusing on the problem I’m solving.

Pressure to perform: I feel pressure to make everything “shareable” and interesting, even when I’m just doing boring but necessary learning.

Choosing projects for shareability: I’m starting to consider whether a project would be interesting to share, not just whether it would teach me something valuable.

Most projects aren’t shareable: I’m building practice projects that I’ll delete after learning the concepts. There isn’t much to share.

The Realization

I’m realizing that building in public isn’t for me at this stage of my journey.

I’m still learning fundamentals. Most of my work is:

• Following tutorials
• Building practice projects
• Reading documentation
• Debugging basic problems

None of this is particularly interesting to share.

I also realize that I learn better when I’m not performing for an audience. I can:

• Make mistakes without embarrassment
• Explore dead ends without explaining them
• Focus deeply without interruption
• Learn at my own pace

Making the Decision

I’m deciding to stop building in public and focus on learning deeply without the pressure of documentation.

I can always start sharing later when:

• I have more experience
• I have something valuable to say
• I’m working on projects worth sharing

For now, I want to learn without performance anxiety.

The Benefits

After stopping, I’m noticing:

More focus: I can concentrate on learning without thinking about how to present it.

Faster learning: I’m not spending time on social media or writing posts.

Less pressure: I can experiment and fail without worrying about my “brand.”

Better project choices: I’m choosing projects based on what will teach me the most, not what will get engagement.

What I’m Learning

Building in public isn’t for everyone: It works for some people, but it’s not a requirement for learning or success.

Different stages, different strategies: Maybe building in public makes sense later in my career, but not while I’m still learning fundamentals.

Focus is valuable: Protecting my attention and focus is more important than building an audience.

Learning in private is okay: Not everything needs to be shared. Deep learning often happens in private.