These people are not quite an aristocracy. Perhaps they are simply the blogeoisie, a dominant class in network society. Or it may be simpler to think of blogs as a feudal system, with respect and links acting as the chief currency. The peasants toil in the low-rank blogs, paying their tithe in LazyWeb projects to the lords of the link in return for an occasional mention from Hammersley or Searls.
"Blog eats blog: The rise of the blogeoisie." by Bill Thompson, May 15, 2003.