So I recently saw a headline about Klout, the online site that measures your influence across various forms of social media. I had heard about it before but never really paid much attention to as I never really had an interest in seeing how “influential” I was on the Internet. Well, yesterday I figured, why the hell not at least check it out, see what score they give me, and move on with my life. My score, as tabulated through various social networks and based upon God knows what factors, was a 10 on a scale from 1-100. According to the site, I am an “observer”. Oh my God, what am I going to do? I don’t have very much influence online and fear that I may slip into a deep rooted depression spiraling ever downward till I crash and burn. (Please note sarcasm in last two sentences). Really, what is the purpose of a Klout score other than to compare yourself to others, see how influential you are, and measure your success as on online entity? There really isn’t much. I personally find the whole site kind of bogus and sophomoric. Now I am sure that there are plenty of people out there, young and old, who actually place some sort of weight on their Klout score in relation to their online lives, but what difference does it actually make? If you have a low Klout score (like me), does it mean you have to wade through the mire attempting to exert some sort of influence over others online? Does it mean you must get out there and drive the conversations that people are having on Facebook? Or maybe it means you must tweet your little behind off till people notice you, react to you, and either slam you for your idiocy or lift you up for your thought provoking tweets.
It seems to me at least that the Klout score serves one purpose and one purpose only, to offer another tool to measure ourselves against others and create in our own minds a level of success. What is the whole point of being influential online if you aren’t influential in the real world? I would much rather have a direct impact on someone that I interact with face to face than drive conversation online or seek to be influential on the web. This is not to say that being influential online can’t translate to the real world, but I feel that the emphasis placed in online influence is a tad bit ridiculous. Why measure yourself against others to begin with? The most influential people online are also those that are relatively well known offline as well. Examples would be Obama, any TV or movie star, musician, etc. To constantly seek to exert our influence as compared to others is to set ourselves up for some sort of disaster. There seems to be a common thread in our society where we must perpetually seek to compare, evaluate, and improve based upon what everyone else around us is doing. Why not seek to improve ourselves simply to improve ourselves? Why can’t we strive simply to be the best person that we can be without comparing ourselves to those around us? It seems as a society that we have lost the ability to live freely. We place so many constraints on ourselves based mostly upon what is expected of us, that there is not time to be ourselves. We are told that “success” is getting a college degree, making money, driving nice cars, and wearing nice clothes. Add to that list now that being successful also entails having a high Klout score and most of us are doomed to failure. If we can’t achieve success as put forth by society, than we inevitably feel less than worthy, less than average, not relevant. Perhaps being relevant is the worst because who cares if we are relevant or not. If those around us can accept us for who we are, then we are relevant, worthy, and successful.
We can continually gauge our success, influence, and relevance based upon society’s norm or its precedent, but how will it actually matter? Having a high Klout score does nothing more than give you a number to either attempt to improve upon or not. Its almost like being in grammar school again. “Johnny has a Klout score of 85, yours is only 82, your slacking off buddy!” Really? What’s next, your “Life Score” based upon how successful you become in real life? Having a Klout score of 10 and according to society, I should be pretty depressed that I can’t exert more influence over others online. Well, guess what, I’m not depressed, probably not going to look at my Klout score again, and will simply keep doing what I am doing online, observing and writing my daily posts. If one of my posts has some sort of impact on a reader, than I only hope that the impact it has translates into the real world, not the online world. There is nothing sadder to me than to see people spend all their time online, glued to their smart phones, ipads, or other device only to miss the wonders of the real world. Furthermore, if people want to be influential, try being positive in life, interacting with others, and I guarantee that you will have a greater impact on those you interact with than you could ever have online. Screw the Klout score. I say make an attempt to help others in the real world and it will improve your own life in kind. Maybe for once try to look someone in the eye while talking to them instead of being distracted by your technological device glued permanently to your hand. Maybe try having a conversation with someone that moves beyond “hello” and “goodbye”. Well, I’m done with being cynical and sarcastic for today. To all those who actually follow their Klout score and seek to improve it constantly, good luck, God speed, and I won’t be competing with you!
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