One of the things I love about Mike Masnick’s writing at Techdirt is that he always has a unique perspective on the events that everyone else comments on. The recent news about research into the phenomenon of popularity begetting popularity is a great example. While the topic was widely written about in the ’sphere with mostly mundane observations, Mike notes one fascinating interpretation: “this actually supports the idea that giving away content for promotional purposes is a very important strategy in developing a brand”. Oh – and yes, Mike is coming to mesh.