Have you heard about John Kennedy Toole, writer of the brilliant ¨A Confederacy of Dunces¨? He tried and he tried and he tried... Until he eventually killed himself because his depressed persona couldn´t deal with the rejection.
Later, his mother got his manuscript published and it went on to win a Pulitzer.
Was his writing a waste of time? Would it have been different if he had access to social media? I doubt it...