Blog in blog out you hear about the social media importance of bloggers in the influencing/evangelizing mix of things. Prevalent 2.0 knowledge would have you believe that for any online WOMM initiative to flourish, A-listers would have to be seeded, fed and sometimes paid to spread (maybe even host) the virus. Previous conference discussions on the subject that I’ve attended swear by the same old recipe: get an A-list blogger, get forum veterans, get senior Diggers talking about your virus…and the rest will come.

Now for a research firm to come out and shoot down this sacred belief…that’s just SMO heresy. Or is it.

According to a new study from Canadian research firm Pollara, self-described social media users put far more trust in friends and family online than in popular bloggers, or strangers with 10,000 MySpace “friends.”

Of more than 1,100 adults polled in December, nearly 80% said they were very or somewhat more likely to consider buying products recommended by real-world friends and family, while only 23% reported being very or somewhat likely to consider a product pushed by “well-known bloggers.”

“This shows that popularity doesn’t always equate to credibility,” said Robert Hutton, executive vice president and general manager at Pollara. “Marketers might have to reconsider who the real influencers are out there.”

Maybe we’ve underestimated the average Weberati. We’ve been so used to grouping them together with the fickle and the blind. In the process, we marketers have dumbed ourselves to the point that we truly believe that a positive review on an Alexa-friendly blog by your niche’s superstar is the single most important factor out there for our viral marketing campaigns. We overlook the glaring fact that the Weberati has finally figured out that our Facebook friends are just acquaintances of the add-anyone-to-boost-my-social-ego variety. Or that half of our blog traffic’s coming in from deliberate (and lame) Britney Spears keyword stuffing posting techniques. Or that we’re really just a link builder for hire in sheep’s clothing. Or worse, that we’re just basing our opinions from secondary sources. This impersonal take on a subject matter just does not cut it anymore.

Maybe we were wrong to think that bloggers rule. As marketers, maybe it’s time to value them for what they’re really worth. Forget the SMO influencer hype, just think links.