Cheers - I probably would never have come across any of that on my own.

'Exercise in futility'?

What was your post's objective?

To get attention, or remedy the fact that "Someone is wrong on the Internet"?

Or other?

As usual very insightful but, I feel compelled to call you ... I don't know ... Eeyore.

You're like the Eeyore of the blogosphere. "Nobody reads me", "It's an exercise in futility". Isn't that you're own way, just like Eeyore, of getting attention. I mean, you're still blogging, right?

;)

And anyhow, who has a Guardian column?

Yes, popularity is king because the economic system of the web is meant to mimic movies, books, magazines. Pageviews gets you money. Lots of money if you know how to segment and qualify your traffic.

What you fail to grasp is how influence is not monolithic. There are different degrees as well as different kinds of influence and most of them have nothing to do with popularity.

I mean, how is it that people like you, me, Robert have influence that is impactful in ways that make assholes like Kos want to go out of his way to smear and discredit those who he sees as not as good as him, the owner of the biggest political blog in "teh universe"?

Because people like you, me, Bob, we're the proof of how the web is not hierarchical. That the economics of traffic is an artificial way of measuring success, based on outdated models that come from the entertainment industry.

Influence is much more complex to understand and to parse for most people. It is not for me because I don't think in terms of continuums or progressions but of networks. I've come to realize that I am a people person and that I am more interested in relationships than in popularity.

That's something that a lot of A-listers do not understand because they're only about the numbers and not relationships.

And, by the way, even Eeyore cares about his relationships even though he expresses it in the negative.

Just saying :)

/ liza

Liza Sabater
http://culturekitchen.com

ps : I think it will be 6 or 7 years I've been reading your blog. I look forward for many more :)

Great job going into the comments at the center of this anti-MBA blogstorm and speaking truth to a mob.

Hopeless but brave. I've met Cox once and it seemed to me that he was scarred by his legal experience and he's trying to put bloggers of all political persuasions in a better position when they get confronted by the big guys.

Sad, but unfortunately too typical when there's such a hateful rush to judgement.

Liza wrote: "Because people like you, me, Bob, we're the proof of how the web is not hierarchical..."

Well, if it's not hierarchical, all Bob has to do is to speak to a bunch of random blogs, and the MBA's reputation will be restored.

Er... maybe it's just more efficient to start from the top. Who does Arrington answer to? Shel Israel, of course. And Shel's, umm, handler is in Gotham, which is quite convenient for Bob.

Chris: Sadly, that's part of the problem :-(

Crosbie: To remedy the fact that "Someone is wrong on the Internet". As I've said, it's a bad habit.

liza: In fact, I've been called Eeyore, and have an Eeyore pic that I've occasionally put in posts. "Pathetic. That's what it is. Pathetic".

Dave: Thanks, I tried. Futility in action.

Jon: He answers to the MSM, of course. The Washington Post in particular.