Michael Arrington beaten to top spot on Forbes top 25 web celebs... by Perez Hilton

I met Perez at the airport mid-month on a layover in Minneapolis. For a z-list actual celebrity, I found him incredibly full of himself. A woman, obviously a fan and just tickled to death, asked if she could have her picture taken with him. He said 'fine', but she would have to come down to his level because he wasn't going to stand up for him.

Thanks, but I can do without celebrities like this.

Except 3, rest all are bloggers... I wonder how come youtube celebs (like Chad Vader, Obama Girl) are not included in web-celebs ...

I'm amazed Perez isn't discussed more around here - it may not be a "technical" success, but his site is ridiculously popular.

He's achieved something most startups would die for, but rarely design for - mainstream "your mother" traffic.

The mechanisms of popularity are interesting for hackers (at least for me), but hardly anyone understands them. Adding more anecdotes and celebrity gossip isn't helpful.