If you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account, you are already being judged — or will be soon. Companies with names like Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter Grader are in the process of scoring millions, eventually billions, of people on their level of influence — or in the lingo, rating “influencers.” Yet the companies are not simply looking at the number of followers or friends you’ve amassed. Rather, they are beginning to measure influence in more nuanced ways, and posting their judgments — in the form of a score — online.
Now I had a Facebook page, nothing on it really, but after seeing some of the comments by those with whom I had become connected I decided that discretion was the better part of being public. I also have a twitter account, I needed it for something I thought was useful although I never used it. Frankly it all takes up too much time and in addition one really should think a bit before saying something, or frankly anything.
Yes I have seen the tables where some couple is sitting waiting for dinner while each engrossed in their twitter or Facebook pages. Perhaps they know all they need to about each other, perhaps they really do not care.
I even have a Linked In page, my students said I should have one. Never really used it, and I have 100+ links. Again I see no need. Generational, perhaps, style perhaps, but why spend so much time "online".
But the "influence" measure by the likes of Klout allegedly rank you by the following:
1. True Reach is the size of your engaged audience. Something about your tweets.
2. Amplification Probability is the likelihood that your content will be acted upon. Something on how your message is amplified by others.
3. Network Influence is the influence level of your engaged audience. Something about how your message influence others.
Just what this means is in my opinion questionable. First, if you are spending time tweeting then you are probably not working. Influencing others for what purpose. More fun, more food, more entertainment. How about creativity.
Creativity means developing new ideas, new businesses which themselves create or transform value. Not often senseless communications, also known as noise. Perhaps a measure of how new value is created in out economy would be a better measure. Instead we seem to be fixated on the bread and circus mentality. Thus one wonders why we are in such a poor economic state.
Posts
