The A-list debate is roaring. Not only do we have debates going on about the value of the list, we have people such as Jeremy unsubscribing from the A-listers.

Blogging’s about relationships, about value, about authenticity and about authority.

If we can’t be honest and only read the blogs where we find value (personal value, professional value or informational value), there’s a real problem.

I’ve got a post half-written which talks about this in some more depth, but the gist of this long post is simple: I, as a reader (not as a friend), am no longer finding value in Scoble or the A-List.

I’ve been an on-again and off-again A-list reader. I tend to subscribe to them for a while, get annoyed that I never read it, unsubscribe, see something interesting a month later, resubscribe, etc. You see the pattern here. But, the point is, as Jeremy has noted, that others will point me to the salient stuff I am interested in. It’s ok to leave the A-list. I know some A-listers, some not. But I really think value is key here – no matter if I know the blogger or not, I need consistent value in what I read. There is too much clutter in my reading landscape to stand for anything less.

I am happy that this debate is going on. It will force us to look at the list and ask why it is “the” list anyway. What value does it provide? How was it measured? What is its longevity? What values have shifted? Do we need one list or many? BlogHer showed me that the A-list has major problems in creating a closed network not just for bloggers wanting on the list, but for the internal linking and perspectives it has created. So, let’s chuck that list and find something else.

Jason Calacanis has a competition to come up with a new list, one that addresses some of these issues – it will be longer and more focused on the now of popularity. But, I think the measurement is still somewhat flawed and that we could derive more importance from lists in broad subject areas so one topic, such as technology, does not dominate. Anyway, I see the response to Jason’s contest as positive. He’ll get dozens of lists of valuable data and insight. And it might just push search engines to change the way they track and value the web, even just a bit.

My bet – Technorati will get there first. I see them pushing to gain ground again against competition and I see the struggle this A-list debate is causing with them. My guess – wait a few weeks, and we’ll have something new out from Technorati.

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