I remember era of lame home pages (luckily mine never made it online) and emerging useful sites. I remember visiting those sites 100% not caring about persons running them.
Fast forward to now and suddenly Internet is full of personal authority. And where does that authority come from exactly?
idol
Photo by suchitra prints
Early adopters
Stick with something long enough and you will become better at that. Practice makes perfect… and time makes authority. Years online doing same things (no matter working or having fun) add up to reputation and connections.
Opportunists
Authority can be made… or copied. Weirdest thing that putting effort into becoming authority can be successful. It’s a process different from natural but leading to same results – reputation and connections.
Legions
Then come the masses. These people had zero role in creating initial reputation and connections, they simply come and see authority pile. Social proof kicks in – few have “might that one be simply full of crap” checks in their mind. People don’t question authority, they worship it and contribute to it.
Oblivious
But largest part of the iceberg (silent, lurking and unseen) simply doesn’t care. They have Google research tool of their choice and it’s all they need.
So what?
Think really hard before answering following question.
Do legions have better Internet experience then oblivious?
Blogs are tiny grains with pearls of authority forming around them. Well placed (by chance or effort) grain ensures that excellent pearl grows around it. Hunting such pearls online might make you ignore diamonds . Growing role of authority in blogging (and spilling it to other areas) is destroying educated choice. Blindly following authority undermines worth of Internet as vast source of information.
No matter how big authority in any subject person is – it cannot be replacement for what whole of Internet has to offer.