THE ALPHA BLOGGERS

And what do the alpha bloggers get in return? Certainly not riches. Though it's possible to pick up a few hundred dollars if you enlist in the program that carries Google's ad on your site, many A-listers don't bother. "If you're into blogs to make money, you're into it for the wrong reasons," says Searles. "Do you ask your back porch what its business plan is?"

Not that being an alpha blogger doesn't have some benefits. The exposure has led to better jobs, more lucrative consulting, speaking gigs and--if not groupies--a certain bit of glamour that comes from having people hang on your every word at the end-of-day reception at a tech conference. Traditional journalists, who follow the blogosphere closely for early warnings of the next trends, see these free agents more and more as peers. And public-relations reps are beginning to include the power bloggers in briefings and pitches.

Does this mean that the ultimate outsider community might wind up becoming a bit too entrenched in the establishment? Rest assured that before that happens, the unwashed blogging hoi polloi will shame the A-listers back into maverickville --or take their places. All it takes is a few important inbounds, a mention on the popular Slashdot geek site or, heaven forfend, a nod from traditional media. And someone you never heard of is suddenly a star on Technorati. "People come out of nowhere and get discovered," says Scoble. "Suddenly they have 4,000 readers a day." Who will be the one who discovers what comes next after podcasting?

© 2004