Klout: The Power of Social Media

The power and influence of Social Media is something I’ve been very interested in learning more about for years.  That curiosity along with a few of this week’s tweets from our in-house Twitter Legend, Gino (@GinoTheGhost) sparked me to investigate Social Media even further.  That research led me to a company called Socialnomics, which specializes in shedding light on the “implications of social media on our daily lives and how businesses can tap the power of social media”.  Their founder Erik Qualman has even written an international best-selling book on the subject.  Socialnomics has many Social Media based stories, statistics, and case studies on their site, as well as the following video which puts the Social Media world in perspective.

With Social Media being as big of a deal as it is, and me being as avid of a Facebook’er / Twitter’er / Google+’er / FourSquare’er / Instagram’er / Blogger /… /… as I am, I was curious to know my Social Media impact.  That’s where Klout comes in.  Klout, since being founded in 2008, has made it it’s mission to effectively measure one’s Social Media influence.  Klout works by analyzing a person’s (or a business’s) Social Media accounts and assigning a score between 1 and 100.  Then it goes a step farther and highlights your most engaging content, and even makes suggestions on how to better influence your followers.  Whether your serious about your Social Media life, or are just plain curious, suggest checking out your Klout score and see how many people actually pay attention to what you post.  Get a high enough Klout score, and you may be eligible for Klout Perks which are exclusive previews and deals from companies around the world.

Albert Einstein famously stated, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”  I know our world has it’s fair share of idiots, but I believe Einstein got this one wrong.  Technology has only enhanced the human interaction.

By the way, my Klout score is a 50 for anyone keeping track at home.  What’s yours?