well really, you could point this question at the world in general.

I would say there are conservatives and liberals here, men and women, blacks, whites, hispanics, and other. Straights and gays. Olders and youngers. Nothing sets you apart from any, other than being frank, intelligent, and original. If you are wishy-washy, stupid or bland nobody will even know who you are. If you lay out some intelligent thought or some wit from time to time folks know who you are whether they agree with you or not. Obviously time/frequency at site is a major factor, but only if you have quality thoughts A, Q, or C. If you are stupid and/or negative all the time you might be known and there is one here with high rank who fits that bill, but not respected. That is my humble opinion.

I believe the most popular Ab'ers are the ones who tend to socialize as well as contribute.

Some people communicate their personalities more easily on paper than others and manage to convey their attractive qualities readily. Some people are good at making their point without alienating others, and without attacking. People with dry wit can be overlooked or considered dull. Without the inflection that comes with natural speech, a lot of dry humor can get lost or misunderstood. Some people are intensely private - although they want to share their ideas and knowledge, they don't necessarily care to go into personal details. That can make them seem aloof or unapproachable. There are some people on AB who are well known without ever having said anything substantive, while there are others who go unnoticed who make great contributions. Part of the reason for this is that those popular folk go out of their way never to offend anyone and to avoid controversial issues. People who jump on the PC bandwagon seem to attract lots of AB notice too. I've noticed that some of the "popular" ABers use the comment threads to connect with others, to compliment or reach out to them, and they've made a friend, or at least started a friendship. I guess what this adds up to is that ability and willingness to connect with others is the key.

I think it's the same here as in real life. Some people will have a lot of friends while others will only have a few. Some don't like the lime light or are naturally shy. They are just as smart and witty as any one else but they don't seek out other people to commune with. The more people you interact with the more people will know you, whether you have great answers or are just a good communicator.

It seams if one gets into a clique ,and there is some in this site you get noticed and have questions directed towards you ,specifically.I find this questions a waste of time for all people have something to say.

AB is like life in the big room. It isn't always fair or sensible.

Because some folks want to be well-known and popular and spend A LOT of time here doing just that, others are here for intellectual stimulation, learning sharing and leave it at that.