Always Aim for Quality Content over Hype
July 31st, 2009In the sixth Elegy of Rilke’s Duino Elegies, there is praise for the fig tree that almost entirely omits to flower. Rilke is considering the big issues of life and death, as all artists should. He contrasts the flower-like shallowness of the acrobats with the value of the fulfilled fruit.
But this idea – that drawing attention to yourself by flowering matters less than fruiting – can be applied to The Internet too. Everything of worth on The Internet does not need bangs and whistles, bold colors or shouting from the rooftops.
Such transparently valuable projects as The Open Source Movement, Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, The Open Directory Project and The Scout Report are appreciated for what they do, not for the fanfare that they create.
And this should be your aim if you are starting out with an Internet idea: Provide nourishing fruit, and even if, like the fig, your site does not flower in a big way, it will still be found and appreciated.