A few weeks ago there was a big brouhaha over “A List” bloggers. Fred Wilson said he wants nothing to do with lists and wrote, “If everybody is directed to read the “A list” bloggers, we’ll miss all the best stuff which is being blogged by people who get maybe 100 to 1000 readers.”
If that’s the case, then why doesn’t Fred lead by example and start linking to people who get 100 readers?
I’m tired of Jeff Jarvis (who’s also groaned about the lists) and Fred – both super high traffic bloggers – linking to each other all the time and then saying A-lists don’t exist. Of course they exist and they’re perpetuated by the constant back scratching and reciprocity that pervades the blogosphere. This is especially so among entrepreneur and VC bloggers.
Links to the same, old people are creating the club. I don’t blame Fred, for example, for not having the time to read all the lesser known blogs. You can only keep up with so much. But let’s not preach the glorious opportunity for anyone – big or small – to be on the list if you’re not going to provide any link love. Jeff Jarvis may point to the buzz generated by his postings on Dell tech support as a sign of citizen’s media and how big companies better start listening to any customer who blogs, who has a voice. But let’s be real: If I posted about a poor experience with Dell the same buzz wouldn’t have taken place and Dell probably wouldn’t have give a shit. Why? Because he’s Jeff Jarvis and I’m Ben Casnocha. We’re not equals in the blogosphere.
Well said, Ben!