The assumption is that people have a right to be featured. This isn't the case. When I feature, I actually rarely look at who wrote it. If it turns out a few people get featured more often, it's coincidence and little more.
Prior to working here, I had many articles that I poured a lot time and effort into that never got any notice. And from time to time articles I never expected (and later regretted) were featured for the world to see. Now that I'm on the other side of the equation, I understand it more. Not everything is seen, and what is featured depends on what catches the interest of the person featuring it.
A good title (i.e. descriptive and catchy that actually matches to the contents of the article) helps draw attention. It does not guarantee it though. You may write on the serious issues plaguing survivers of the gulf coast disaster all this time later, but if I'm not in a disaster kind of mood at the moment, I may pass the article over. It's not a mark against the article, it just didn't catch my attention/desire to read at the time. Sometimes I'm looking for fun and goofy articles because that's how my mood is at the moment, sometimes I'm looking for political ones to reflect current events.
If a title hooks me, content then becomes king. Is the article mostly a reposting of another news article with a paragraph or two of commentary? Or is it mostly original thought and opinion that expresses the view of the author and not what they read? Is it well written? And by this I don't mean perfect spelling, grammar and punctuation...I lack that myself. What I'm looking for is, does it communicate the point well?
There are always exceptions, like when someone links a particularly funny youtube video, or points to an article I think is particularly worth reading, but by and large my criteria are:
1. Hook me with a good title.
2. Follow up that title with something that keeps me interested
So don't attempt to use sensationalist headlines in an attempt to grab attention, if it doesn't match to what is written, it won't help you any.
I believe Brad wrote an article several years ago on what gets you noticed for featuring. I'll have to dig that link up.