The rest of you: you’re all wrong. This list is completely valid for one reason: Lock is below me.

I could go on.

This is because of my episode with the trenchcoat and the indecent exposure in the East Village, isn’t it?

Hi everyone! I agree with all of you. As one of the listees mentioned today over email, “LINK BAIT!” (And, it turns out, not just for NowPublic, but for me too. I honestly was just trying to get Rex and Krucoff to comment somehow.)

I think this ties into the Jessica Roy argument from the other day, which I have linked over on the Tumblr (http://brianvan.tumblr.com). Choire made an argument that many of the “Brooklyn scene” writers, borne of blogs, were NOT in control of “the scene” because they could barely get out of bed in the morning and not have a nervous breakdown. (A fact not true of most people on the list, except, hey, look, there’s Emily Gould! And she was one of the most forbidding people at the party where this all started. Anyways…)

I know half the people on this list (as either an observer or a face-to-face contact), and they are all extremely effective communicators due to their hyper-communicative qualities and extensive self-branding efforts. (Scott Kidder? Maybe not. When I think of him, I think, “He’s dating Kate.” Maybe she should be on the list instead.) They may not be ranked in any sort of sensible order, and there are endless omissions, but this is indeed a list of people-to-watch. They don’t have total control over the NYC Internet “scene”, but you’d be wrong to think they have NO power, either. If you don’t own your own well-funded startup, try dating any of the people on this list, having a very messy breakup with one of them, and then see how many parties you get invited to after that!

But I would hope that, if someone’s going to publish a list like this, it has at least the tiniest root in reality. **sigh**

but it’s an interesting question whether public = influential. As with everything in life, I think there’s a balance. If you spout nonsense into a microphone, people will tune you out. But if you whisper your wisdom, they won’t hear you either. It’s probably about the right people hear you say the right things at the right time.

And who are you influencing anyway? Market-movers or the twittering masses? One would inherently get more exposure than the other.

But here’s a thought that’s consoling (if not a bit saccharine): the people with the most real influence will ultimately come out on top where it matters–in life, not a list.

With that said, lists are good business. Everybody always writes about them (I was about to write something similar myself).

That said, I did get a kick out of it, I’m not going to lie. It’s cool to see your name near the top of a list, even though there’s no possible criteria that would make me deserving of such a spot.