Maybe I'm simply giving voice to my elitist tendencies here, but in order to be part of the Long Tail that can benefit from the overcoming of limited shelf space there's an expectation of quality. You may have written a good book, but there are lots of these, and in the physical world the competition it simply too tough. But if you can be found, which is something that internet tools most certainly can aid, you may not become the next bestseller, but you can still reach a respectable audience. This isn't the same as the proverbial fifteen minutes of fame. An internet fad, a totally forgettable song that somehow succeeds in going viral, a reality TV star who graces the gossip pages before receding into distant memory. Each of these, and more, are related, at least partially, to the Long Tail phenomenon. But they're not really the same thing.

They may even be contradictory. Achieving momentary fame, though certainly not something contemptible, isn't necessarily something to be proud of. Too often fame is achieved, if that's the word, by being just weird enough, or not self-conscious enough, such that being famous by being infamous, or at least by being oblivious to the fact that you're being laughed at, is more the rule than the exception.