Does Quality Matter?
BusinessPundit’s Rob wonders if “most popular” is necessarily “best”:
Which brings me back to my original question - does quality matter? Sure it does. Look at the Pie Kitchen. Of course it doesn’t. Look at the blogosphere. Can a brand new blog crack the top ten because it is unique and well written? Does anyone pay attention to a purple cow if everyone else is ignoring it? If Oprah and Jessica Simpson and Rush Limbaugh and Paul Krugman and other social influencers aren’t talking about it, who are we to think that it may actually matter?
I’m confused. It seems that things become popular because they are good, but popularity can then sustain itself once the goodness has faded away. Is it human nature to prefer popularity over quality? We assume if it’s popular then other people like it for some reason, but perhaps that is a poor assumption. Maybe the Emperor has no clothes. Maybe Google is no longer the best search engine, Ebay is no longer the best online auction, and Windows is no longer the best operating system. Yet they are all the most popular in their category.
[from Purple Cows, Pie Kitchens, and the Blogosphere: Does Quality Really Matter Anymore?]