Hartley's story reveals that while it was the “kickass” Ruby on Rails site that got the young teen noticed, it is his networking skills that have elevated him to “elite” status. The always-caustic Owen Thomas agreed. “The ultimate story about the Valley is about a meritocracy. If you strip away everything else, that is the story,” he noted, but in fact, San Francisco is “a place where personal connections rule.” Such personal connections are necessary to attract venture capital, find a co-founder, set up a possible acquisition, and get noticed by tech blogs and technology journalists. These economic hierarchies are naturalized and made invisible by framing them as innocuous social ties.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 665