The famous saying by Socrates goes “I know that I know nothing”.
Whenever I’m browsing the internet on the lookout for interesting blogs or book discussions, there is one thing that I notice.
It maybe only endemic to my local inter-webs, but it seems that after decades of suppressing the natural evolution of thought, and basically skipping a generation due to repressions in the Soviet times, a new generation has surfaced of people suffering from the snobbish longing to be perceived as intellectuals.
When I compare this to cultures who have not suffered loss amongst their intellectual elites, the progression was never interrupted and there is significantly more diversity of thought, as well as established ‘authorities’, whom at least you can trust to give you fair critique of the current literary market and recommend a few good books to read.
When I had my first blog where I’d usually post book reviews and random musings, I too tried to mingle with the local ‘intellectual’ crowd. Very soon I was told that since I don’t have the proper degree or credentials, my own writing is pretty much useless to them. It doesn’t count. My only solace was that it had pretty good rankings on Google SERP.
At the time, there was another curious incident. I was in the comment section of some Facebook post shared by a prominent local book publisher. She was writing about an author ranting in a blog post about how ‘the youth’ doesn’t read. When I noticed that it’s hard to figure out where to get started if you’ve never read much of the classics but a list of recommended books would’ve seen immensely helpful, the book publisher huffed and puffed, said that she was not a librarian, and asked me about my contribution. After I shared links to my personal blog and my contributor pages on Librivox and Wikipedia, the Facebook post mysteriously vanished.
After a while, I had to evaluate my barren attempts at mixing in with the local literary crowd, and abandon my blog for good. Only now I am returning to blogging on a new platform with a proper domain name and the sole focus on pleasing the algorithm.
I understand now that I am completely on my own and can only rely on my writing and SEO expertise (or lack thereof). I have no power over changing my environment, so I have changed my focus and do something that will bring me tangible tried and proven results.
