We live in an age of information overload.

 

I know it. You know it.

 

 

We experience it every day.



 

So if you’re reading this, I’m genuinely honored. Thank you.

 

So in a time when there is never a shortage of things to read, watch or play with, how does an individual, brand or organization measure their own influence on the world?



 

How do we know the difference between adding to the noise, or actually contributing to a greater conversation?



 

A two-way conversation.

 

I know, by just using the over hyped-word “conversation,” you might be extremely tempted to stop reading.

 

But that’s exactly what I’m aiming for when I communicate. And I hope you are, too.



 

Though I’m not the best at it, I want to engage, listen to, contemplate and thoughtfully communicate with others.



 

So I’m not really interested in a popularity contest, whether measured by Twitter followers, friends, retweets or any other number.



 

It’s cliché, but it truly is about quality. It has never been about quantity.

 

But maybe you’re thinking, it’s really hard to measure quality, especially in the digital social spheres that we are engaged with daily.



 

How can we measure the meaningful influence we have? Is your brand/organization actually communicating with customers? Or just using a bullhorn to annoy the masses?



 

Enter a sweet website I found recently (though it’s been around for a while now), klout.com. 

Though not perfect, I’m finding it really useful and interesting. Sure, it’s easy to see that so and so has 1,000 followers or a brand has 13k followers. But again, how much of that is noise?

 

I’m excited to see this service — along with others yet to be launched — grow and evolve into a deeper way to look into this tricky subject.