Welcome to Web 2.0

The paradigm for discussing one's popularity/cultural importance/relevance in today's world has completely shifted like a football player hunching, digging his feet in the astroturf, and attacking his opponent.

Accordingly, to decide one's popularity or infamy today, we either a) Google them to see how many web-pages there are or b)Wiki them. Of course the latter is usually the third or fourth Google-listed web-page anyway -- but that's neither here nor there. Or is it?

Chuck Klosterman hit this topic on the head of the proverbial nail in his most recent publication in Esquire: "Power of Zeus is not the next great band. But come on, somebody, at least give 'em a Wikipedia page." 

Exactly.

When looking up a new band or discussing how pineapples are harvested (they're grown in the ground contrary to public opinion that they grow on trees) I simply look to see how big the scroll bar is on the subject's Wikipedia page. It's simple. For instance Britney Spears' wiki page scroll bar is about the size of, hmm, a penny, while Caribou, the musician's, page scroll bar is over one-third of the size of the page.

Or, as it is so popular to both say and do, if you want to find out about someone or something you "Google them." While doing so, you just exacerbate the not necessarily negative point that popularity is now kept track under the Internet's thump, namely the omnipotent Google.

Well, at least is makes it easy for U.S. presidential hopefuls, Obama and Clinton -- because really, in the end, it's just a popularity contest.

"I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me."  --Frank Costello, The Departed