Building in public is dead and it's a good thing
A better way to build in public, in 2024
So they say building in public is dead.
Maybe it is. Maybe not.
Maybe so on Twitter/X. Tweets don’t get no reach no more. Building in public or not. The algo is too fickle now. One week it’s great, another it’s in the dumps. If you’re building in public on X for marketing—as the sole channel—then yes, you should be worried. Super worried. Time to divest into SEO, Youtube, or even Threads.
But if your building in public is not tied to marketing or monetizing a product, then it’s far from dead. Sharing cool stuff you did, telling a great story, will always make you friends. Connecting with other like minds, geeking out and learning together over shiny new tech is not algo-dependent. Sure maybe not as many people who are interested in your work will see it, but it won’t matter as much. Sooner or later they do. You’re in no hurry, because it’s not about money.
Maybe it’s a good thing then. A blessing in disguise.
The current, tainted version of building in public was co-opted into marketing, humblebragging, or self promotion. That can go. It’s better off dead.
The original gangster version of building in public can now return. FINALLY. Without the intention to make you buy something, maybe building in public will be better off now.
Back to it’s roots of collective fun, inspiration, learning, joy.
RIP ‘building in public’.
Welcome back, building in public.
So what’s a better way to build in public on X, in 2024?
Here’s my own list, of what I would love to see as a reader, and what I aspire to produce and tweet as a creator:
Do:
Share what you learned, most of the time.
Share failures, mistakes, missteps some of the time. Be authentically vulnerable.
Share cool or fun experiments, without giving away the secret sauce.
Share MRR screenshots but with back stories.
Share MRR up to a point. For me, anything beyond $5k-$10k feels weird and braggish. It might also attract unwanted attention from copycats.
Make friends, connect with like minds.
Establish topic authority.
Create your own groups and lists of people to engage with. Algos in 2024 are not in your favour, so create and curate your own feeds. Use the Following feed, not For You feed.
Ask (genuine) questions, learn together.
Don’t:
Your competitors and copycats are watching and/or wishing you ill will or plot against you. They will clone or compete with you if given a chance. Don’t give them too much info to do that too easily.
Don’t share every step or boring detail along the way. Storytell, not log.
Don’t share MRR screenshots only.
Don’t use build in public as marketing or X as the sole marketing channel, since reach on X is fickle af.
Don’t complain and whine too much and spread negativity as a default. It’s ok to do it occasionally but not as an engagement tactic.
Don’t start beef or drama as engagement bait.
Don’t be contrarian as engagement bait.
Don’t post controversial stuff as engagement bait.
Don’t ask questions as engagement bait.
Don’t show vulnerability as engagement bait.
Don’t humblebrag.
Don’t be anonymous, or put fake AI-generated avatars. People want to connect with real people.
Don’t talk about what you’re going to do. It might be helpful for public accountability but psychology says you feel less motivated after declaring your goal and people giving you encouragement and positive feedback. Declare your wins after the fact.
Tl;dr - Do what’s timeless and genuine, aim to make friends, don’t just do it in order to get someone to buy something.
What do you think of this new yet old building in public?