Social worth based on likability?

In this IPS thread Layman brings up the above issue. I inquired as follows.

I have some questions on evaluating one's social worth based on likes/links. I for one will not participate in Facebook so won't have any of those ratings. Plus my work here and on my blog might be liked by a select few with the wherewithal to appreciate it but I doubt it's going to be commercially or widely liked. So do we evaluate just on the number of likes and/or the quality and/or weight of those who like it? Also many who might appreciate my work aren't even aware of it because I have no commercial network like a tv or radio show to promote it. Yes, my audience is growing by word of mouth but that is a slow, gradual process. Much more regressive sources with media and money backing no doubt get much higher ratings based on views, likes, etc.


Which reminds me of the regressive argument that progressive radio is not 'successful' based on audience share and ratings. What they don't tell you is that the regressives own most of the major radio media and will promote their favored hosts in many cities, while severely limiting progressive voices in far fewer cities and media outlets. It is far from an equal opportunity situation.