As to “blowing up”, there might be a formula for it but if you have content that others latch on to the niche can expand rapidly. Having a dedicated blog does help in terms of traction.

Soon though, I’m pretty sure there will be (already is?) a niche of drive by comments that will be enabled with meta services like DISQUS and FriendFeed or summary approaches to the corpus of disparate interactions.

On TV we have talking heads that nobody tunes in for other than to see them opine in sound bites. Eventually there will be a celebrity in that with DISQUS and FriendFeed. Right now it’s probably limited to being a well known or influential commenter on a specific web property (DIGG, etc.).

@Jon – > Great article! Thanks for posting the link.

I think that when it comes to new toys, some high-profile bloggers get the gear for free — or decide to invest a significant portion of their budget in “tech toys”. Stowe, for example, is on Nokia’s blogger outreach programme (don’t ask, it doesn’t exist here in CH-Europe, I already investigated), which you’ll find mentioned here and there in his posts about his Nokia toys.

I personally have a hand-me-down phone and a MacBook which I bought with my own money — my only significant technological investment all these last years.

As for “floating to the top” in terms of blogger visibility, I notice that many who do (Louis is just one example I’ve seen over these last 8 years of blogging) cover tech topics and tend to be in the “breaking news” race in some form or other. Not to take anything away from Louis, but you also mustn’t neglect the feedback loop effect when it comes to popularity.

Hope this helps? Ask more if you wish — I really liked your post.

He’s a good guy with a great opinions and a cunning mind. Louis is also one of the evangelists of many new services that have taken off such as FriendFeed, ReadBurner, RSSMeme, and Toluu. He introduced me to all of these services and many more.

He’s popular because his voice and opinions are very impressionable and thought-provoking. For me, he’s lent a helping hand in getting my name out there. Plus, our interests just happen to overlap. He has a great writing style and great thoughts. However, this is all a preferential thing and entirely dependent upon your interests. He’s popular to those with relevant interests and who may run in the same blogging circles.

http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/15/whos-louis-gray/

PS: If you find the secret to having the latest everything and the jet set lifestyle keep me posted

@RT: I don’t feel like I’ve “blown up”, to be honest. I’m more visible in 2008 than I was in 2007, but not dramatically so. I could drop into a tech conference and go totally unnoticed, but Scoble couldn’t do that at all. I’ve been part of what a lot of us call “The B List”, which is hiding just under the radar.

There are places where I’m “overweighted”, like FriendFeed or on Corvida’s Twitter, which make me appear bigger than reality, but that paints a false picture.

As for why I got more visible? I think it came with finding new products early and recognizing their potential. I was among the first and loudest when it came to FriendFeed. Being right about that helped gain credibility and visibility on that site as it took off. You could also see my pushing of sites like ReadBurner and Toluu, which have done extremely well on their own.

Over time, it’s built on itself. One story leads to more opportunities which leads to more stories. Just being consistent, I guess.

Besides reading their comments and the occasional blog post, I have no clue who these guys really are either.

@Yolanda – >

And I also want to know how they and other of these sparkly blogger people afford all these toys and trips everywhere.