We’re a people, a world, in love with numbers.
If it can’t be measured, the pundits say, it’s not worthwhile.
So, I have to give props to Klout for its sheer genius in playing into this love of numbers and formulating its influence scoring system.
How cool, some say, that there’s now a way to quantify online influence.
Fascinating how some individuals and companies raced to use klout scores for event invitations, advertising, social media ROI, job searches (really?), prestige, and self-esteem. Easy, but does it capture the whole picture? The truest essence? The heart of the matter?
From my perspective, a klout score is an arbitrary one-dimensional number that seeks to quantify something that’s qualitative.
I left corporate America because of the prevailing mindset that someone is only as good as their last set of numbers. I don’t believe everything about someone or something can be reduced to a single metric.
Some matters of the heart, the intuition, and the gut just can’t be quantified. Things like kindness or respect or collaboration.
If you’re like me, and have a love/hate relationship with klout and its algorithms, repeat after me: I am not a number.
I am not a number.
I won’t let a number determine my circle of contacts.
This heartless (IMHO) advice from “Klout expert” Amy Schmittaueron on how to improve your score gets a major thumbs down from me: “Make sure you’re engaging with people who have a relatively good to a higher Klout score. When you engage with people who have like no Klout or a really low score it’s reflects poorly on you.”
Come on!
Let’s not forget or ignore or discard the human factor here.
Go ahead on and let it “reflect poorly” on your score:
- Dare to share with an up-and-comer
- Boldly engage with someone who’s lonely and has few online connections
- Generously show some heart to those in need. It’s good for you and for them.
There not much soul in an algorithm.
I am not a number.
And I won’t treat you like you are one either.
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
