Social Media Era And Ego
Whether we like admitting it or not, when we join any site we want people to read the posts we share and, although we might not say it loudly, we really want them to retweet, like or +1 them (or all of it!). When this happens, we feel satisfied and we also start feeling something we may not have experienced before: ego growth.
I recently watched ‘Julie & Julia’ (based on the book with the same title, written by American author Julie Powell; for those who haven’t watched it yet expect lots of delicious recipes and great acting). Apart from accentuating my passion for good food, this film also made me realise of how clearly we can define the Internet era in ‘Pre-Social Media Sites time’ and ‘Post-Social Media Sites time’. Some would say that it was easier to become an influencer during the pre-social media sites time, others would say the complete opposite, but what most of us will agree with is that there was clearly a before and after.
At the time Julie Powell launched the blog ‘Julie & Julia’ is based on, social media wasn’t part of our everyday lives and many businesses hadn’t even heard of such a term. Julie Powell wasn’t sure whether there was somebody reading her blog. She became successful because of the interest her blog raised, but she could have also been like that tree that falls in a field with nobody around. Who’s going to hear it? Today, Julie Powell would have found easier to share her blog across much, much bigger communities and know its impact nearly straight away. The charm of her story, however, is that it became successful anyway during the pre-social media sites time.
Society Gets Social Media. Klouts Gets Society
Mar Martí also explained on her ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ post how there was a time before and there is a time after social media. Becoming part of a community wasn’t appealing to the masses either; people loved keeping themselves to themselves…or did they?
The popularity of Facebook and Twitter woke up our ego and made us realise we weren’t so keen anymore on keeping our lives so private. We started sharing what we love doing, what we eat (at the time we are eating it, with picture included), who we are with, the last gadget we bought… Social media sites have found room in our society because people in our society have realised they don’t mind exposing their lives, or at least some aspects.
What do you expect when sharing a picture, an article, a video, etc. with a community? I’ve asked this question before and, although I haven’t always had the most honest answer (some people still struggle with the idea of admitting that they love being heard and, ultimately, becoming some kind of authority within a community), the answer is recognition, influence, impact, virality.
Klout is a service that offers users the chance to analyse their influence on the communities they belong to (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Foursquare…) by making that influence measurable. By providing measurable data, users won’t only be able to analyse their influence online, but also compete with other users (the fun part).
Klout And The New Sense Of Competition
I registered on Klout only a few months ago and I must admit that I quickly got hooked. I found mesmerising being able to understand where I stood in relation to other members of the same communities, how much or little I was influencing them and how much or little they were influencing me. I guess that if the existence of social media is able to boost egos, Klout definitely manages to boost the sense of competition. Who truly reaches that community you are in: you or the contact that works in the same market as you do? Who influences more within a community: you or that colleague you’ve worked with for years? Ultimately, who’s a bigger influencer?
Competition is on but, by looking at this data, you may also gain a sense of self-improvement within your communities. After all, you want your influence to keep increasing.
Today I checked my Klout score. I know that at 42.66 is quite modest compared to other users. However, I take as a positive the influence increase during the last month. That alone is encouraging, which may show one of the reasons why using Klout may be beneficial.
Topics
According to Klout, topics are generated based on users’ engagement with your content. Currently I’m influential about 12 topics, most of which I’m happy with: ‘Social Media’, ‘iPhone’, ‘SEO’, ‘Marmite’, ‘Coffee’… Others, such as ‘Beer’ and ‘Relationships’, baffle me bit as they are two topics I don’t tend to tweet or comment about. If I’ve posted 3 out of nearly 3,000 tweets including ‘beer’, I don’t think Klout should consider me an influencer. I find it quite funny though every time I read that Klout believes I’m influential about beer.
The good news is that if you don’t think you are influential about a topic Klout has matched you with, you can always deactivate it.
I guess Klout still needs to tweak a bit how it defines what topics people really are influential about.
I believe that we are entering a new stage within the social media era that has got lots to do with understanding where we stand in relation to others. Obtaining accurate information will be crucial for individuals and businesses interested in proving and improving their authority within certain communities. Others may just be interested in keeping their sense of ego and competitiveness in good shape.
Have you got Klout? Do you agree with the topics Klout believes you are influential about? Let us know your opinion.
September 30, 2011 at 10:08 am
· Filed under Uncategorized · Posted by
September 29, 2011 at 3:28 pm
· Filed under 
