The End of the Blogging A-List As We Know It?

Blogging has long had its list of celebrities. The tech bloggers have theirs. Marketing/PR bloggers have theirs. Real estate blogging has its own list of blog celebs as well.

UK-based cartoonist/blogger, Hugh MacLeod, yesterday rang the death knell of the A-list as we know it. He indicates that the rise of social networks like Facebook and Twitter (let me add Active Rain to the list) have circumvented the need for A-list bloggers to act as "hubs."

In the past, if you wanted to gain a following for your blog, getting the attention of one of this head of the class bloggers was a vital component. With the advent of social networking, that's no longer the case.

Take AR for example. I've been blogging here only a few months and on any given post, I'll receive X times the number of reads and comments I would on any of my past blogs. Why is that? Because I'm a great blogger who provides a wealth of information? Hardly, though I do try to hold up my end. It's because I'm part of a vibrant, dynamic group of real estate blog enthusiasts who've been kind enough to include me in their list of associates or subscribe to my RSS feed. It is the power of the network at work.

I love what Robert Scoble said: "A number of my blogging friends have seen their traffic go down lately. They assume that their readers are off in social networks. I think they are absolutely right."

Of course, there is a bit of irony here. Scoble, for example, is transferring his celebrity status from blogs to social media. He's been on Facebook about a month and has thousands for friends already...same for his presence on Twitter, and that's becoming the case on Pownce, which itself has only been around a very short time.

Still, social media, networks, and online communities do give those of us with less than star status a fighting chance. It's difficult if not nigh impossible to do that anymore via the blogosphere alone. I mean there are now 88 million of them and at least two added every second of every day. Mawh!!! The good news is, with the advent of social media, we don't have to rely on the blogosphere.

PS: Hugh MacLeod is the keynote speaker for the upcoming Inman Connect conference. I suspect we have no clue what he has in store for us! Hugh is also a fabled member of the A-list.