Forbes Lists Top ‘Web Celebs’

In a staggeringly transparent piece of linkbait, Forbes has foisted the moniker ‘Internet Famous’ on 25 unsuspecting internerds. I fully intend to rib Om “Blogfather” Malik mercilessly about his inclusion at number 24, especially since he forwarded me the link. But in an indication of what mediums are still king online, most of the names are bloggers — only five well known online video personalities made the list.

• 1. Jessica Lee Rose: AKA lonelygirl15, she proved that even online, no publicity is bad publicity as she moved on from the controversy surrounding the revelation her act was scripted.
• 8. Amanda Congdon: After a nasty breakup with Rocketboom, Amanda’s back on her feet with her own site and a rebound fling with ABC News.
• 11. Ze Frank: Ze has gotten an honest-to-goodness Hollywood agent in the hopes of moving from online to offline and dropping the ‘Internet’ qualifier, becoming just regular famous.
• 21. Kevin Sites: Don’t let the Playgirl centerfold looks fool you, Kevin has a war correspondent’s dream job — he picks his assignments and Yahoo News picks up the tab.
• 25. Violet Blue: There isn’t an online medium that Violet doesn’t rank in. Already a star blogger, she started a podcast which dominates iTunes and now holds the mic as an interviewer for Geek Entertainment TV.

What do you think — is there anyone who should have made the list and didn’t? Am I the only one who finds it hard to believe Jason Calacanis is more popular than anyone who’s ever topped the YouTube Most Discussed list?

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