And like Jeff states, it’s all about knowing your audience and understanding their needs. An “expert” should be able to help you find the best way to build relationships with your audience. Start with people first and the tools second.

I see the same issue on the technology side of software development, and in my current “life” of process improvement.

To be perfectly honest, I long ago decided that anyone who was touted (or touted themselves) as a Rock Star was either not to be trusted, not as good as was said, or both.

When someone is deemed a demi-god in their niche, they will work very hard to retain that status… especially if they aren’t deserving of it!

Context is king! If 12 year olds are blogging and 60 year old women make up the fastest growing demographic of Facebook users, me thinks these things aren’t for the tech community to try and teach; techies should be spending more time listening and learning.

How do you provide meaning through conversation? You have to know what your audience wants; their vocabulary; and exactly that which they are seeking?

And of course the largest issue of all on the web, that you’ve talked about in this post, TRUST!

With the wisdom of the ages on the web, many people are giving themselves titles without the capacity to delivery quality and meaningful content.