Social proof is what you described Adywan as having. Adywan is an extreme case. If someone has a "fanbase" (sometimes simply a group of friends that put in a good word for them), then others are more drawn. It's popularity. Being automatically cool by virtue of so many hanging around you.
Around the General Discussions forum, it's hard to say who the Alpha Male is. I think that's because it fluctuates all the time, and this category can't strongly center around any one person or idea, unlike, as you mentioned, the Fan Edits section where Ady has his little cult going on (I'd consider them a separate pack altogether).
I think Axia likes the challenge of trying to win the opposing side over. Strangely enough, the most effective method of doing that is going to be completely unrelated to whatever issues he's trying to convince the opposing side of. A large portion of it is going to come down to who he keeps as his social proof.