The social media part exacerbates the issue because the intellectual has direct access to their listeners. In the past, if you wrote an influential book, indeed

The social media part exacerbates the issue because the intellectual has direct access to their listeners. In the past, if you wrote an influential book, indeed your fans might go back and comb through your back catalogue. And the basic idea of you needing to write your next great book on the next hot topic to maintain your fame is there. But social media cuts out the book writing cycle, instead you can spend five minutes on a tweet, a few days on a YouTube video, etc. The loop is much tighter, and the effect is accelerated.