And by “before”, do you mean before Splashpress took reins? Or before Blogmedia took over?

Cheers
tony.

Jason *doesn’t* think that an A-list exists *because* he thinks that anyone can *become* the A-list through ‘hard work’ and ‘good blogging’.

Second of all, I doubt Jason Calacanis ever struggled with meager adsense earnings; he is the chap, after all who sold Weblogs for millions of dollars to AOL.

Thirdly, I agree — its up to bloggers whether or not they want to do PPP, and that they need to take into account the consequences thereafter. And that’s always been my point. A few months ago, Mr. Calacanis and Jeff Jarvis got into a huge rant about how evil PPP is — the subtext being that *no* blogger in their right mind should do it.

Well the whole point of my original post that got picked on is that “blue-collar” bloggers might not have the convenience of being able to debate such things, because they’re looking to make money to make ends meet.

PPP is a phenomena that is more nuanced than what many people make it out to be. Yes, there is disclosure *finally*. But it came on the heels of an FTC official opinion about Word of Mout Marketing. And Posties are not required to mark individual posts as being sponsored — so you never know which posts are sponsored material or not.

Cheers
t

The interesting question isn’t about the existence of stratification in the blogosphere — I don’t think anyone is saying Boing-Boing is in the same class as, say, the personal blog I started with 3 readers (me, my mom and my dog). Obviously.

The interesting question is whether or not being a “blue collar” blogger is enough license to write PayPerPost articles without a clear disclaimer?

I’m thinking: Yes, but do so at your own peril.

If small time bloggers want to eck out a higher rate for their blogging hobby by doing PPP, so be it. It’s their blog, and I strongly believe they have a right to put whatever they want on their blog. Personal freedom is a top reason the blogosphere rocks!

Annoying flash animation will scare away potential readers. And (I believe) not-so-transparent PPPs undermines a blogger’s credibility to the point that they will lose readers.

Is $50 this month worth the loss of future readers? Hey, it’s your blog… you make the decision, you live with the consequences.

Cheers,
Greg

There are far more important topics to talk about – like how hot Twitter is or isn’t

I don’t begrudge the “a-list” from being the “a-list” — if those bloggers weren’t up there, someone else would be. Again, these bloggers aren’t just “good”, or “successful”, these guys, in the techno-sphere, are guys who actually wield real influence.

Contrary to some blogger’s opinions, its not *just* about being in san francisco being at the right parties and so on — these guys actually *make* news. They are more connected, they are more influential, and they are just part of what makes the “web2.0″ run.

Jason Calacanis decides to sell Weblogs? Remake Netscape into a social bookmarking / news site? That’s actually news.
Dave Winer decides to start talking about an open-source ipod Killer? Also news.
Jeff Jarvis going to yet another huge media conference? Also news.
Steve Rubel not talking about the Wal-mart fiasco? Big news.
Robert Scoble criticizing major bloggers for not giving Podtech links (when Podtech is paid by their sponsors to create videos — which lead to links)? News as well.

Because they are who they are and what they are, its a ludicrous argument that anyone is “envious” of them, or that people who criticize them have some kind of envy who need instruction about creating better blogs.

I found that the point I was trying to make was that the a-list does exists, and they are more than just “successful bloggers’; moreover, to deny their existence was just silly.

Phew … now, can we drop the conversation for a few months at least? :)

Cheers
t