Good one Steven. I agree with you on this. The content should be able to stand alone. But there will always be an element of the person providing the content wrapped up in these things. That's the authority of the person who writes it. The huge-yet-subtle, hard-to-pinpoint element is where authority stops and popularity picks up in the realm of what gets attention.
Andy DeSoto
· 11 months ago
Great article, Steven. I think you hit the nail on the head with your closing thought: "as long as it is the CONTENT that is being ranked or given authority," rankings are okay. For instance, I'm comfortable with people giving my YouTube videos star rankings because they're ranking the content itself. However, if people use my comments on other YouTube videos to rank the videos I myself upload, that's where it stops making sense.
Just look at popular athletes or musicians. They may produce great work, but we don't judge them on how they act in their interviews! (If we did, they'd be in trouble!)
Douglas Karr
· 11 months ago
It's the 'herd' mentality, isn't it? How often is the 'herd' correct? Politics? Auto Industry? Housing Market? The Internet? We can all point to moments in history where everyone that was an 'authority' were totally in left field! And it's often the unconventional that scream to the top.
Great post - don't ever ignore those outside the 'herd'... they may just be the predators that will overtake you.
AllisonR
· 11 months ago
I don't think Social media is he joke.... it is a pretty cool tool that gets all us information junkies off.
I do think those that believe they are doing the world a favour by claiming authority via numbers (like Scoble) are the joke.
The right information from one individual to another will eclipse anything scatter-gunned by so-called "thought leaders".
All Comments
Just look at popular athletes or musicians. They may produce great work, but we don't judge them on how they act in their interviews! (If we did, they'd be in trouble!)
Great post - don't ever ignore those outside the 'herd'... they may just be the predators that will overtake you.
I do think those that believe they are doing the world a favour by claiming authority via numbers (like Scoble) are the joke.
The right information from one individual to another will eclipse anything scatter-gunned by so-called "thought leaders".