This cult of personality borders on ridiculous. It occurs in many occupations (my own included) so it might just seem excessive because I’m not a tech person and don’t know all of the “players”. It does appear a lot like high school some days.

Thanks for all the thoughts/feedback. I guess writing at night is a good idea

I think the best thing we can all do is just take care of ourselves and respond to others in an earnest manner. The rest will take care of itself.

I guess this post reassures me that if you write what you know/think/feel – people will recognize that.

Again: I’m not into personal attacks. I’m sure Jason is a good guy, but I think he missed his mark on this one. Scoble too seems to be nothing but honest and gentle.

But as a group the “A-Listers” need to find a way to be… well… less A-listy IMHO.

The point being that as a race of (semi) sentient beings, we are all on our individual quests for meaning, place and existence in the world.

Ie…the general cycle goes something like this.

Person A comes up with something original and useful. Everybody loves it within their niche.

Person B sees this nice and original thing and takes the basic idea and scales and markets it outside the niche to the general herd and makes ALOT of money in the fresh Blue Ocean. (sometimes A and B is the same person, though not usually)

Then comes C,D and E

Now the Ocean is Red as there are many that come in and emulate Person B – the market then changes from one that is based on quality and innovation to one that is based on getting the largest reach and highest margins.

In the Blogosphere meaning that the being good and being here is not enough. I can make a better soft drink than Pepsi, but is anybody going to drink it? No – I do not have the reach.

But that is why the smart fish move away from the Red and forwards into the Blue Ocean

A-list bloggers have earned their right to cash in on their brands and build businesses around them. But when the very social media platforms they evangelize and speak through become platforms merely for self-promotion vs thought leadership, then I think reality is warped. Perhaps cash and ego are driving that trend.

And when popular blogs trade editorial posts to those who buy ads or sponsorships and fail to tell readers that “This post is a paid advertisement,” the line between editorial opinion and promotion is blurred.

Great analogies (ie Jordan/basketball)I appreciate your down to earth approach. The moment people stop being REAL so too will their *Success* IMHO

Your points are well made. Just because some first adopters burn out on the way, doesn’t mean that the concept has matured. On the contrary, this world is only getting started.

Keep up the good posts.

Jim