So. I’m going to take a scientific approach to this question.
I am going to take my own personal TW awards: people who have featured in my “I love youse all” series:
- I love youse guys by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile
- I love youse guys #2 by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile
- I love youse women by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile
- I love youse guys #4 by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile
I am going to apply rigorous criteria: good Quora citizenship, notability of at least 100 followers (same criterion as for Necrologue), good and expansive contributions as answerer, I’ve seen a reasonable amount of their stuff (which means reasonably large number of answers, at least 500, in feeds I have not muted).
(Yes, there are several omissions following those criteria that have pained me.)
I’ll then prune it subjectively, so it doesn’t end up being 50 users long. I’m having a devil of a time limiting it to 20 users. And I can’t limit it further. Good thing I’m not the one handing these out; it’s a wrenching thing to rank your friends and those you admire.
I come up with:
- Michael Masiello
- Dimitris Almyrantis
- Sam Morningstar
- Lara Novakov
- Zeibura S. Kathau
- Robert Todd
- Gareth Jones
- Habib Fanny
- Jeremy Markeith Thompson
- Mary C. Gignilliat
- Irene Colthurst
- Pegah Esmaili
- Clarissa Lohr
- Gigi J Wolf
- Jordan Yates
- Michaelis Maus
- Heinrich Müller
- Amy Dakin
- John Gragson
- Victoria Weaver
Since 8 people have already been kind enough on this thread to say I Woz Robbed, let me arrogate the opportunity to say a few words in acknowledgement.
- There’s two more rounds.
- I want nothing to be taken away from those that got the quill. Nothing at all.
- I said a bunch of stuff at Nick Nicholas’ answer to Why do some Quorans reject the Top Writer title?, which I stand by.
- A large part of me would love to get the quill, sure—who doesn’t want acknowledgement?
- But see, I already have acknowledgement. I have the acknowledgement of people in this thread, and a bunch of people in other threads—including people that got the quill and expressed their regret that I didn’t, and people that never had the quill, and people I didn’t even know, and and people that I know well and think the world of.
- And that, itself, is worth more than any quill.
User said the following in a comment elsewhere in this thread. It is bound up in her own narrative and not mine, so I won’t claim it as mine. But it is such a great truth, that it deserves to be seen:
https://www.quora.com/Who-deserv…
[…] …so here I am on Quora and people listen and value what I have to say. Compared to what I had last year I AM A TOP WRITER…and having someone like you Kate tell me you value me enough to be with other people on this list..oh yeah I feel like a TOP WRITER…beleive me..I’m not crying about it..
Or, as I put it on the day to Audrey Ackerman, who has earned her quill, richly—and who was one of those who said they were upset at me not getting a quill:
I won’t lie, I felt a pang, but I have no intent of letting that get to me. You deserve it. I deserve it too, whether I get it next batch or not.