Dave Winer:

It was intriguing for a day or two, but now it's clear that the Leaderboard was the dumbest idea ever, because now more than ever, people are gaming Techmeme so they can climb the list.

To which I'd say, "well, duh". And if Techmeme didn't make that kind of list, someone else would. People like lists, on the web and off it. There are many things are that just beyond Winer's ken; this is simply one of them.