Sometimes the blogosphere DOES feel like high school again. With Technorati and Feedster telling us who is Prom King and Queen so much, what’s a lowly geek gal to do?
I really didn’t hate High School all that much, even though I AM a geek, because I am also a social networker (odd). So, to see a blog comparing the blogosphere to a country club doesn’t really unnerve me at all, in fact I agree with DJHowatt. I think that’s exactly what it is.
<DJHowatt> often proclaims that while technology is an enabler and that nothing has really changed. Humans still seek and uplift experts (the A-lister hierarchy) and that massive social networks are still limited to the amount of individuals a human can have in his or her network. — Jeremiah Owyang
Of course, it might unnerve me more if I was having a difficult time ‘fitting in’.
However, no offense to the A-list bloggers, but I highly doubt many of them were Prom Queen and King. I think blogs are a more level playing field. You don’t have to be gorgeous, you just have to be witty, insightful and engaging to get a ‘following.’
Doesn’t hurt if you’re cute, but it’s really not nearly as important as it is in High School or at the Country Club.
So, is technology changing the world? Yes and No.
As King Solomon said, There is nothing new under the sun…”
There will always be popular people, but now I actually stand as good a chance of being one as a cheerleader or a member of the Country Club (probably better).
Robin,
Glad you’re covering this. During ther period when I was sick so much was made of A-List and B-List SEO’s that I thought to myself, “Let’s get real, now one outside of this industry knows who any of us are, so to be deciding who is in A or B list is just silly”. Then I recently saw a post about paying people to not link to A-List bloggers and it just made me even sicker. Seriously, any social media is going to have those people who other want to be like and therefore kiss-up to, but to
Sorry – computer hick-up… As I was saying:
Anything that is social is going to have those who others think are “The Greatest” and will therefore want to kiss up or hate- that’s just human nature.
I actually don’t consider any one particular blogger A-list since there are so many bloggers out there (I had a different opinion 4 years ago when there were so few bloggers that there was an obvious A-List). One person’s A-lister is another’s Blowhard.
I generally consider anyone who makes a big deal about A-listers the wannabes who could be spending a better time building up their own list of people who consider them A-lister… but ’tis always better to bring others down than bring yourself up, no?
Glad I got that off of my chest – lol
Natasha “That Girl From Marketing” Robinson
BTW – I recently was reading an article on the state of Social Networks (on MediaPost or iMediaConnection I believe) and thought of you and Mooble. I hope that all is going well and the you are on your way to building the best Social Network out there.
Robyn,
I’m glad you’re not put off by the country club in the middle of the blogosphere. They’re all just different ways to get the same thing done: social connections. You make an excellent point that criteria for success shift as our gathering places change. In the same way, many stars of silent movies didn’t have the voices to be successful in “talkies.” In High School it was how we looked. In blogs, it’s how we think and write. What about podcasting? I guess we all gravitate to the areas that favor our strengths and that don’t showcase our weaknesses. It’s a very human response to choice. And at the end of the day, I guess that’s what the new technologies give us: greater choice to find our spot under King Solomon’s sun.
Natasha,
I agree exactly! There will ALWAYS be suck-ups and there will always be people they suck-up to 😉 Navigating the blogosphere really isn’t much different than any other other political place (high school, country club, the office).
Thanks for the comments on Mooble. I’m releasing the vidcast on Monday. I’ll ping you when I do 🙂
DJHowatt,
Wasn’t sure if I should call you DJ, Mr Howatt or what, so I went with how you signed in 🙂 I suppose writers with stinky voices or heavy accents are at a grave disadvantage when podcasting.
There’s one A-list blogger out there with a FABULOUS blog that really should have someone else voice his podcasts. He is SO super-smart, but his accent and (shall I say) boring demeanor do not lend well to a good podcast. Plus he’s chosen to make it a half hour and the only podcast/vidcast I can handle for that long is Diggnation and I don’t even watch it every week…
Soon as the podcasting people start A-listing and B-listing themselves, we’ll start to see the Vidcaster listing begin. It’s all so arbitrary…
Thanks for stopping by 🙂