Abrams Research Blog

Have you ever stood on a line for an up-scale club in NYC? It’s tough as nails to get in if you’re not “on the list”, but you still do it. You do it because of the social credit that accompanies access to a selective club. It’s similar to the selection process of being picked for a team during a pick-up game when you’re a kid. You never want to be the last one picked. Top pick means you’ve got great athletic skills that your peers have acknowledged, or, in the case of NYC clubs, you’ve got enough social status, good looks, or money to get you in.

With Twitter lists open to the public, I see the same sort of social darwinism playing out in online space. The social elite are on the lists of popular people like @Mashable or @NYTimes—people who command authority in their respective fields. The social commoners of the net are left to only follow those lists, effectively on the sidelines watching from a far.

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