Skip to main content

Do I Have Klout? Do I Need Klout?



Klout.

I'm not even sure how I discovered it. It may have been an ad from another social networking site. Or I may have been invited by a friend. But now I have it. Sort of.

Klout is a differently spelled version of clout, meaning influence we have. Not to be confused with the first definition, that being a blow to the head. This, of course, would be the kind of clout I need more often than attaining any sort of influence on people.

But I have Klout. It's a site where I plug in all my other social networking sites and Klout tracks all my activity. Here's their purpose statement: We’re helping millions of people unlock their influence and grow their Klout. 

 Let me say right away I have no problem with the makers of Klout. The rest of what I have to say is also not an indictment of my friends who I know use Klout.

However...

For me, Klout became just another game. Why? Because Klout takes all of your social networking site activities and measures it. Then it gives you a number. (Read: score.) I now had a new website to visit, to check out my number.

To make matters worse, I could see the numbers of my friends and colleagues, Facebook friends and bloggers alike. To state it another way, I could see who I was winning and losing to. Because in my mind the number instantly became a score. The higher my number, the better I must be doing, right?

Stop and consider, though, what this is measuring. My social activity. How many times did I post on Facebook? How many times did people respond and react to my posts? Were my comments retweeted? I realize Klout, as a company, has a far grander purpose than keeping up with the number of Facebook likes on my wall, but for me it was just a score. Worse yet, it was a score on how I was doing at life! And not even my real life. Klout could never account for how well I was doing my job, how many real conversations I was having, how many actual lives I may impact.

And yet I allowed a number to impact my day. If the number went up, I somehow felt better. If the number went down, somehow I had failed? Again, I realize the company has a much grander purpose than keeping score, but for me.... for now.... I think I need to lose the measurement.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Studies on the Go...Genesis

To be honest, I had not heard of Studies On The Go before being offered a review copy by my god friends at Youth Worker. But since I’m always looking out for study ideas, I said yes to this opportunity. Studies On The Go by Laurie Polich-Short has 30 studies. This particular edition is on the book of Genesis. Any book of the Bible can be daunting when you’re trying to interest and impact teenagers. But Genesis increases that difficulty due to the many questions that arise on the topic of creation. On top of that, you have the many stories of questionable characters that we often call heroes of the faith. Each study comes with great questions, not mindless Sunday School questions where every answer is Jesus. They also come with an optional activity to take the lesson a step further and create true impact. Add to that a weekly plan for students to go deeper and you have a winner of a study in one little book. If all the book studies are as well done as this one, I’d ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Capable Of?

I fancy myself to be just like Batman...without the money, the cave, the vendetta, the car and the cool belt. Other than that, we're pretty much the same guy. Does it help my case that I have a boy wonder? It's my son, but I'd take him over a dude in green tights any day. I've also imagined myself to be similar to Superman...you know, but without the super strength, speed, or that thing he can do with his eyes. Oh, and I'm also not from another planet. But he was a reporter and I like to write, though that hasn't been proven much by my blog. At least, not compared to what I used to write. The first time I write this post, it sounded like an apology. But that's not really the message I want to convey. Yes, I wish I were posting more. I also wish I had super strength or a cool utility belt, but those things aren't happening right now either. Maybe some day . The truth is I have been keeping busy. I'm not sitting back, sipping lemonade. I've never c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more