Most Public Index: Los Angeles

This is our 3rd MostPublic Index, identifying the 20 most influential individuals in Los Angeles. The MostPublic Index is a detailed barometer of whose voices are most heard in the digital landscape as new channels—Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and the like—transform how media is created and spread. Previously, NowPublic identified and announced the 50 MostPublic influencers in New York, as well as those in Silicon Valley.

“The goal of NowPublic’s MostPublic Index is to measure—on a completely transparent, metric-driven basis—who is most effectively broadcasting their own personal brand online and who are the emerging news players,” said Leonard Brody, CEO of NowPublic. “Hollywood has jumped onto microblogging and other new media tools for gossip and entertainment. LA is the epicenter of pop culture, inarguably one of the US’s largest exports—and where goes LA, there goes the world!“

NowPublic’s formula gauges influence and “publicness” across four categories, including:

• Online Visibility
• Presence on User-Generated Content and Social Networking Sites
• Interactivity and Accessibility
• The “R” Factor: Presence on Microblogging Platforms (Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.)

NowPublic examined statistics in each of these categories from Alexa, Compete, Facebook, Flickr, Google, Quantcast, Technorati, YouTube, and various other blogs and sites, to create a list of Los Angeles’ leading influencers. It then narrowed the list to 20 by analyzing and documenting individuals’ presence and popularity in each of these channels, applying a weighted scoring system, determined by the strength of specific traits held in each online community.

Without further ado, NowPublic proudly presents the MostPublic individuals in Los Angeles:

Just a note about the links on this list. There has been some contention about the fact that we linked to NowPublic accounts that we set up for people on this list rather than to the sites and blogs that make these people the influencers they are. While the links are available on the NowPublic pages for each of these people, we've added them here as well so you can check out first hand why they're on the list. or those who've accepted our invitation we've kept the NowPublic links too, as it gives a quick introduction to each, and lets you follow their stream.

1. Jason Calacanis: calacanis.com
2. Perez Hilton: perezhilton.com
3. Wil Wheaton: wilwheaton dot NET: in exile
4. Micki Krimmel: mickipedia.com
5. Zadi Diaz: blog.zadidiaz.com
6. Dave Bullock: davebullock.com
7. Erin Kotecki Vest: queenofspainblog.com
8. Zach Behrens: zachbehrens.com
9. Felicia Day: feliciaday.com | Felicia Day on NowPublic
10. Kent Nichols: kentnichols.com
11. Mark Frauenfelder: boingboing.net
12. Alex Albrecht: diggnation
13. Xeni Jardin: xeni.net
14. Neil Patel: pronetadvertising.com
15. Sean Bonner: seanbonner.com
16. Colleen Wainwright: communicatrix.com
17. Trent Vanegas: trentvanegas.com
18. Christine Lu: christinelu.com
19. Tara Settembre: tarametblog.com | Tara Settembre on NowPublic
20. Efren Toscano: techzulu.com

The NowPublic MostPublic Index is a leading indicator and benchmark of who is really changing the way in which news is being produced and distributed, a core goal of NowPublic and its army of reporters. Jason Calacanis, for one, still manages to carry a lot of weight due to his extensive use of Web 2.0 technologies, despite his recent retirement from blogging.

The Index is calculated using the following formula:

1. How visible is the individual?
• How many Google search results does the individual garner?
• Under 20,000: 1 Point
• 20,000-49,999: 2 Points
• 50,000-99,999: 3 Points
• 100,00-599,999: 4 Points
• 600,000- 999,999: 5 Points
• 1,000,000 and above: 6 Points
• Where does the individual rank on Technorati?
• Ranked 1,000,000 or over: 1 Point
• Ranked 500,000- 999,999: 2 Points
• Ranked 100,000- 499,999: 3 Points
• Ranked 10,000- 99,999: 4 Points
• Ranked 1,000- 9,999: 5 Points
• Ranked 100-999: 6 Points
• Ranked Under 100: 7 Points
• What is the individual’s Alexa and QuantCast average?
• 500,000+: 1 Point
• 100,000- 499,999: 2 Points
• 50,000- 99,999: 3 Points
• 10,000- 49,999: 4 Points
• 5,000- 9,999: 5 Points
• 1,500- 4,999: 6 Points
• 1- 1,499: 7 Points
• Where does the individual rank on Compete.com?
• 500,000+: 1 Point
• 200,000- 499,999: 2 Points
• 100,000- 199,999: 3 Points
• 40,000- 99,999: 4 Points
• 20,000- 39,999: 5 Points
• 10,000- 19,999: 6 Points
• 1- 9,999: 7 Points
2. How present is the individual in user-generated sites?
• How many search results does the individual garner on YouTube?
• 1 to 19 videos: 1 Point
• 20 to 49 videos: 2 Points
• 50 to 99 videos: 3 Points
• 100-199 videos: 4 Points
• 200 videos and above: 5 Points
• How active is the individual on Facebook?
• Does the individual have a profile? 2 Points
• How many Facebook friends does the individual have?
• Under 150 Friends: 1 Point
• 150-349 Friends: 2 Points
• 350- 499 Friends: 3 Points
• 500 Friends and above: 4 Points
3. Does the individual participate in micro-blogging?
• How many microblogging tools does the individual use (tumblr, flickr)? 3 Points Each
• Twitter: 5 Points
• Number of Twitter Updates:
• 100-300: 1 Point
• 300-1,000: 2 Points
• 1,000-2,500: 3 Points
• 2,500+: 4 Points
• Number of Twitter Followers:
• 100-300: 1 Point
• 300-1,000: 2 Points
• 1,000-2,500: 3 Points
• 2,500+: 4 Points
4. How interactive/accessible is the individual?
• Does the individual offer a message board? 2 Points
• Does the individual offer their email address or a contact form? 2 Points
• Does the individual respond to readerposts or participate in online chat? 2 Points

Over the past month, NowPublic has also identified and announced the 50 MostPublic influencers in New York and Silicon Valley.

The previous MostPublic Indexes have created a lot of dialogue around several themes. Such as: is this a PR stunt or is NowPublic link-baiting? And: is MostPublic a valid and relevant barometer?. So, are we stealing a play from an old media PR conceit by publishing lists? (Yes). Do we want more traffic? (Of course). But mainly we believe that new media tools redefine who the online newsmakers and reporters are. Today there are almost innumerable ways for one’s voice to be heard but traditional influence lists are increasingly irrelevant because they’re predicated on outdated factors and metrics. The access to emerging media tools is part of the foundation upon which NowPublic is built, and the MostPublic index is offered as a measure against traditional pillars of influence.