[FiatLuxDave]

Very interesting post. I've also been looking for interesting content online since Usenet days, although my interests are a bit more .sci than .soc.

If you ever do a similar analysis using say, science Nobel Prize Winners or some other similar list, I'd love to see it.

[dredmorbius]

More to the point: the FP Global 100 list was simply a proxy for "what's a list of search tokens that's likely to indicate meaningful conversation?". I picked the FP list as it was available, comprehensive, and Not Mine (that is, I didn't select the names, and disagree fairly markedly with several inclusions).

The individuals named cover a range of backgrounds, from natural and social sciences to politics, religion, and a few authors, artists, and other creatives.

[dredmorbius]

I suspect the patterns would be strongly similar. I've not posted raw data, though they're somewhat in line with the overall trends. A few exceptions -- forums or publications who cater strongly to a specific name. Richard Dawkins is hugely popular, and NY Times is grossly skewed (for obvious reasons) to mentions of Paul Krugman.