Neil Gaiman seriously needs to win this...

cllorentson · Apr 3, 2010

I received this tweet today, "Vote for Neil Gaiman in the Time's 100 Most Influential Poll. If not, Lady Gaga will win." So of course, I had to check it out.

So far, Lady Gaga is in the number 1 spot, (barf), and Neil is number 15.

Personally, I'd love to see Neil overtake Gaga. I think it would make things "right" in the universe.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972075_1972078_1972162,00.html

leahzero · Apr 3, 2010

Just looking at the current top 10 is nauseating.

1. Lady Gaga
2. Kim Yu-Na
3. Jeff Bridges
4. Hillary Clinton
5. Nicolas Sarkozy
6. James Cameron
7. Muammar Gaddafi
8. Sandra Bullock
9. Sarah Palin
10. Lindsey Vonn

/facepalm

leahzero · Apr 3, 2010

Also, lol @ Michelle Obama being #14, while Barack is #26.

cllorentson · Apr 3, 2010

leahzero said:
Just looking at the current top 10 is nauseating.

1. Lady Gaga
2. Kim Yu-Na
3. Jeff Bridges
4. Hillary Clinton
5. Nicolas Sarkozy
6. James Cameron
7. Muammar Gaddafi
8. Sandra Bullock
9. Sarah Palin
10. Lindsey Vonn

/facepalm

Agreed. I was trying to find some other writers on the list besides Neil, but no names jumped out at me. Of course, it's a really long list, and I was just skimming it...

som1luvsmi · Apr 3, 2010

Jeff Bridges???

Really??

I think I can safely say that he has never influenced me in any way.

Btw- my daughter wants to make sure that everyone knows that

NEIL GAIMAN RULEZ!!!

cllorentson · Apr 3, 2010

Neil Gaiman wrote this today on his twitter page:

"I'm not the most influential person on the list. But you can vote for whether I am more so than Bristol Palin."

backslashbaby · Apr 3, 2010

That's cool. I don't think he's more influential than world leaders, so I won't go that far. But I'll help him beat Lady Gaga and Bristol, sure

brainstorm77 · Apr 3, 2010

I like GaGa but #1? I think this is just showing popularity.

Libbie · Apr 3, 2010

Y'think?

These let-the-interwebs-decide things are purely popularity contests, and are ridiculous, because whoever has the most rabid fans will win. Every time. It doesn't matter whether they've actually influenced anybody to do anything.

Haggis · Apr 3, 2010

I'm glad I'm old and will be dead soon.

brainstorm77 · Apr 3, 2010

Libbie said:
Y'think?

These let-the-interwebs-decide things are purely popularity contests, and are ridiculous, because whoever has the most rabid fans will win. Every time. It doesn't matter whether they've actually influenced anybody to do anything.

Indeed.

HelloKiddo · Apr 3, 2010

Libbie said:
These let-the-interwebs-decide things are purely popularity contests, and are ridiculous, because whoever has the most rabid fans will win. Every time. It doesn't matter whether they've actually influenced anybody to do anything.

They influenced how they voted in the poll, and they influenced them enough to come along and vote for them. If a bunch of kids are fans enough of Lady Gaga to vote for her 100 times and organize votes, she has power over them.

Of course, the polls might be dominated by young people, because they're the ones who vote 100 times. Older people (usually) have other stuff to do.

aruna · Apr 4, 2010

It's a popularity contest. Who cares. Lady Gaga has as much influence over me as that speck of dust on my desk.
What a stupid poll. I'd be more impressed by a list compiled by Time editors.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 4, 2010

The fact that Lady Gaga is on the list at all means evolutionists have it backwards. We did not evolve from apes, we devolved from them.

In fact, the entire top ten tells me that no one who has an IQ above room temperature voted in this poll.

maxmordon · Apr 4, 2010

1) Who the hell is Kim Yu-Na?

2) This is just a popularity contest, I doubt TIME will go so low to say Lady Gaga is the most influencial.

3) It really says a lot when movie stars and singers are considered more influencial than politicians or thinkers.

Sage · Apr 4, 2010

Kim Yu-Na is the gold-medalist figure skater, I think.

BenPanced · Apr 4, 2010

What sort of "influence" are they talking about, though?

mario_c · Apr 4, 2010

Is it bad that I haven't heard of most of these people?

Anyway, Steve Jobs leads my list, for really leading the Information Age from the beginning; followed by Barack, Nicholas Sarkosky, then Oprah and a tie between Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch (our three primary thought leaders of the past decade, for better or worse). Now why does Recaptcha keep making me type dirty words to record my vote? Not that I mind, but some voters might be swayed

Shadow_Ferret · Apr 4, 2010

Other than making me gag, what has Lady Gag Me done?

Neil's moved up to 14.

kurzon · Apr 5, 2010

Hm - I wonder if they will break down the results by age group.

As for Lady Gaga - her influence is on people who feel alienated for being different. She is a current very big force in the worlds of those who needed to hear that it's okay not to conform.

Neil Gaiman has had more influence over me, certainly, but I'm sorry to hear such ridicule directed toward an artist because they're "just" a singer (or whatever the reason is for all this disdain). Different groups of people are influenced by different types of people, and need to hear different messages.

aruna · Apr 5, 2010

I can't help it, I'm an unrepentant elitist!

.......................................................................................................................
As for being different: that's a cinch today. You should have tried being different 40 years ago; and we didn't have a Lady Gaga!

seun · Apr 5, 2010

A few years back, I saw a poll on TV which resulted in Robbie Wiliams being titled The Greatest Man In Music.

Not Elvis or Lennon or Mercury or anyone along those lines. Robbie fucking Williams.

These polls prove nothing other than people are very stupid.

Mac H. · Apr 5, 2010

Why would people care what comes out of the poll?

It's just the Times - it isn't as if it's a reputable new source.

Look at what happened last time:

http://musicmachinery.com/2009/04/15/inside-the-precision-hack/

Mac

Phaeal · Apr 5, 2010

This reminds me of a newspaper campaign Gail Wynand runs in The Fountainhead. He publishes one story about a scientist working in a garret on a potentially world-shaking invention, another story about the pregnant girlfriend of a recently jailed criminal. He then asks for donations to each cause. The pregnant GF wins by an enormous margin. Gail then tells his staff THIS is the kind of public you're writing for.

His newspapers were very successful.

As for Jeff Bridges, can I vote for the Dude instead?

gothicangel · Apr 5, 2010

Neil Gaiman doesn't need to win anything. He's too cool to be bothered about stupid popularity contests.

Neil Gaiman is going to be remembered alongside Dickens and Angela Carter. In eighteen months LG will be known as 'Who?'

Neil Gaiman seriously needs to win this...

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