Top Web Celebrities

Top 10

1.Perez Hilton Mario Lavandeira
Age: 29
What: Celebrity gossip blogger
http://perezhilton.com/
Hollywood stars fear the wrath of Perez Hilton, a controversial gossip blogger with a poison "pen." Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, styles himself as "The Queen of Mean" and has earned a rabid following, thanks to his sense of humor, snarky voice and irreverent habits--like doodling rude captions on paparazzi photos. His blog is hugely popular, despite recent missteps, including erroneously reporting the death of Fidel Castro. And Perez is increasingly becoming a TV star, with gigs including guest-hosting The View, appearing as a contestant on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar and hosting his own series of specials, What Perez Sez, on VH1.

2. Michael Arrington
Age: 37
What: Tech blogger
http://www.techcrunch.com/
Who do savvy investors and tech-business cognoscenti turn to for help finding the next big thing? Michael Arrington, corporate attorney, entrepreneur and editor of the influential TechCrunch blog. The site obsessively profiles and reviews Internet entrepreneurs, products and services--and a mere mention of a company on its pages can make or break a start-up. Arrington has become a Silicon Valley star, one of the most influential business writers in the world, and is regularly cited or quoted in other media.

3. Mark Frauenfelder
Age: 46
What: Editor, blogger, illustrator
http://www.boingboing.net/
When Mark Fraunfelder co-founded technology and culture 'zine Boing Boing in 1988, few would have predicted the project would eventually evolve into a new media giant. But in its current incarnation, Boing Boing is one of the most read and linked-to blogs in the world--so big that three of the five editors appear on this edition of the Web Celeb 25. Frauenfelder scores extra points--and ranks higher on the list than his co-editors--thanks to his work as the editor-in-chief of do-it-yourself magazine MAKE, a geek favorite. This year, he published a book, Rule The Web, about "how to do anything and everything on the internet--better, faster, easier." Boing Boing's expansion into podcasts and videocasts further increases his visibility.

4. Seth Godin
Age: 47
What: Marketing guru
http://www.sethgodin.com
In his book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, Seth Godin says that the key to success is to find a way to stand out--to be the purple cow in a field of monochrome Holsteins. Godin himself may be the best example of how this theory works: The marketing expert is a demigod on the Web, a best-selling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger. He is uniquely respected for his understanding of the Internet, and his essays and opinions are widely read and quoted--online and off.

5. Cory Doctorow
Age: 36
What: Author and blogger
http://www.craphound.net/
Cory Doctorow is a prominent activist for digital rights, and serves as a fellow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He's one of the editors of Boing Boing, a hugely influential and popular blog about technology, culture and politics. And he's also a science fiction novelist, particularly famous on the Web, where he gives his novels away for free (For more, see his essay, " Giving It Away.") In 2007, Doctorow raised his profile with a new short story collection, Overclocked, numerous columns and articles around the Web (including on Forbes.com) and participation in Boing Boing's new podcasts and videocasts.

6. Matt Drudge
Age: 41
What: News Web site editor
http://www.drudgereport.com/
How many Web celebs can boast they helped impeach a president? Only one: Matt Drudge, editor of the Drudge Report, the Web site that, in 1998, broke the news of President Bill Clinton's relationship with former intern Monica Lewinsky. His high-profile site continually made news in the late 1990s by linking to news stories well before they hit the traditional media, and was often cited as an example of the next generation of online journalism. Critics say he's reckless, and little more than a gossip--but Drudge's Internet celebrity hasn't waned, despite the recent cancellation of his weekly radio show.

7. Gina Trapani
Age:32
What: Productivity blogger
http://lifehacker.com

When geeks want to get their lives together, they turn to Gina Trapani. A former freelance web programmer and technology writer, Trapani is the founding editor of Lifehacker.com, an extremely popular weblog which features techy tips on how to increase personal productivity. She's the author of a book, Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day, and her writing has appeared in outlets ranging from Popular Science to Wired magazine.

8. Mark Zuckerberg
Age: 23
What: Facebook founder
http://www.facebook.com/
Boy genius Zuckerberg launched the social networking site Facebook from his Harvard dorm in February 2004. Less than four years later, the site boasts over 58 million users, and the privately held company has been valued by observers at as much as $15 billion. Zuckerberg was frequently discussed and quoted in mass media this year as his company exploded in popularity--and while recent advertising initiatives like the "Beacon" scheme have tarnished his and the company's image, he remains the most prominent face of the social networking boom.

9. Harry Knowles
Age: 36
What: Movie critic
http://www.aintitcool.com/
In a list full of unlikely celebrities, this one may be the most improbable: By his own account, Harry Knowles is a "gargantuan geek" and "Hollywood's red-headed stepchild." Following a 1994 accident that left him bedridden, film fanatic Knowles trolled the Web searching for gossip and rumors about upcoming films and eventually launched his own Web site, Aint It Cool News. The site quickly became--and still remains--one of the Web's most popular destinations for entertainment news. Knowles has also published a book, guest-hosted Siskel & Ebert and the Movies with Roger Ebert, and has even been cast in cameo roles in several feature films.

10. Robert Scoble
Age: 42

What: Tech blogger
http://scobleizer.com/
Before fame struck, Robert Scoble was a marketing executive hired by Microsoft to blog about their products--a position not likely to endear him to an Internet audience. But his unique style quickly won him fans. In June 2006, he left Microsoft; today, his blog, Scobleizer, and his video blog, ScobleShow, are hugely popular. Scoble also works as the vice president of media development at startup PodTech.net, and is the co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.

The rest from the 11^th to the 25^th place.

11. Frank Warren
12. Om Malik
13. Will Leitch
14. Jeff Jarvis
15. Kevin Rose
16. Kathy Sierra
17. Fake Steve Jobs
18. Markos Moulitsas
19. Xeni Jardin
20. Ryan Block
21. Glenn Reynolds
22. Pete Cashmore
23. Steve Rubel
24. Heather Armstrong
25. Darren Rowse