I know that Brian Solis, who I have a lot of time for, is saying that Klout isn’t measuring influence in this slideshare  and he is absolutely right. And then I saw this article by Wessel van Rensburg  and I just had to comment. It went like something like this:

Thank god we are increasingly seeing that social science is behind all of this, not the technology and the number of followers. I’ve been shouting until I’m blue in the face about this and, to be truthful, I’m getting really bored of it. We forget that humans have been social networking for over 250 000 years. We really do seem to live in a time where no one remembers, we think we are where it starts. I heave a huge sigh at these moments.

The difference between a network and a community is that a community is about participation, engagement, collaboration and co creation. Networking is about the connections around a common mutual interest, that is all. Social networks tend to magnify whatever they are seeded with, yet they don’t necessary deal with depth and meaning. Klout can’t measure that simply just by the number of RT’s you have.

Klout and their equally tiresome competitors measure the volume of connection not depth of those connections. Klout measures social networking which is not, we know structured, or effectively arranged yet. Can they do this once we start arranging our networks into particular configurations that enables them to do more ‘real’ things? Klout rewards people still working independently or a disconnected group of people (that’s ok) but it doesn’t yet measure a specific set of connections. It seriously doesn’t.

We still have a long way to go. A social network is something that grows organically, once you start structuring that network it becomes a community and that’s a slightly different matter. Well actually, in our experience, its a whole different matter.

For me Klout, Peerindex and Kred don’t allow us to understand how the whole comes to be greater than the sum of its parts and I’d be very cynical about anything totally algorithmic measuring my influence when actually we know there are generally only ‘Three Degrees of Influence’ ie: the further you go from you at the centre of influence down your connection, tree the less influence you have. Go to any great University in the world who have a specialist social science department and they will blow Klout etc out of the water with their ability to really show you how you influence your network. But, of course that costs and we like free! We like free so much, we now believe that with free you get quality, even if it throws out the wrong stuff.

And, the big problem, yes the big problem is they only measure your activity on the ‘Big 4′ networks. Striking naivety that is high on the continuum of flabbergast! As we know this is increasingly irrelevant as people migrate to niche networks. That’s why you’d find me more likely to invest in the new ‘Friends Reunited’ site (only joking) than Facebook or Klout, because these influence sites are based on flawed science and therefore will ultimately fail. Why? Because humans eventually, even if it takes years, are good at catching on to crap!

Oh and on definitions of social capital you can’t do better than read articles by Putnam, Halpern and Burt. Klout measures connection not the depth of influence. Its just not sophisticated enough for me and never will be. Too much shallowness not enough science, as usual!

I’ve said recently that the big four networks’ situations will change drastically in the next five years, which has caused a bit of a stir in and around my community. They will not be the big hits that they have been, because people will seek more relevant, intimate and meaningful experiences in niche networks. We are already seeing this happen.

I don’t understand why that is so hard for people to grasp, especially as the big four really aren’t social networks any more: they just constantly root through your handbag for information to sell. I feel I can say that with confidence because we’ve been here before many times. As Shirley Bassey sings in “History Repeating”:

“The word is about, there’s something evolving, whatever may come, the world keeps revolving. They say the next big thing is here,that the revolution’s near, but to me it seems quite clear, that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating.”

Let me explain why that is:

When I saw these shoes recently in Oxford Street in London, it occurred to me that all shoes do principally the same thing: they protect your feet from the pavement and keep them warm, although some also make a fashion and cultural statement. So while all shoes are different (these ones especially!) they basically do the same thing. It’s the same with humans. Seriously, I am me and no one else, which is how it’s meant to be. Unfortunately, too often we limit our knowledge and experience of someone by comparing them to someone else. It’s meant to simplify our thinking, but actually it complicates it and creates bad decision making.

I’ve been frustrated by the number of people who have tried to compare my new company to others. No, we are not the new Facebook, and we never want to be!  But why do people do that? A new band emerges and they are heralded as the next Oasis. How long will it be before the next diva is called the new Whitney Houston? We’ve all experienced older family members extolling how much we look like great aunt Freda (I made that one up, but you get my point.)

It’s no secret that I’ve kicked back against the major social networks marketing so aggressively recently – that’s my choice. I left Facebook not only because of that, but because I was bored of the relentless repetitive posts and the lack of publishing awareness of the people I was connected to. I know that’s harsh, but even I don’t want to know everything my friends are up to, especially when the posts tend to be utopian when in reality life is not!

However, there is nothing like a little break of a couple of days by the sea in the heat to get you to think differently and to accept that the honeymoon period is over and that the whole social media sector is not just fragmenting, it’s rationalising itself. Therefore, I am going to make some changes to how I approach my social media activity. Some people will find that strange, annoying, baffling and stupid, but others will be thankful, according to the feedback I’ve been getting. Making the change was helped by several clients and people I’m connected to, who suggested it in 2011. They lauded me when I shared my thinking and said, “Thank God,” and, “At last.”

So how will I use each channel in future? 

I truly believe that my good old fashioned state education in a small market town in the north of England set me back 15 years. If it hadn’t been for sport, I’m not sure where I would be now. I’ve recently realised something about the education system from in-depth research that I’m doing about the future relationship between computers and humans, notably as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more embedded in our everyday lives.

It doesn’t take a genius (and to be honest, I was saying it to my teachers when I was 14) to recognise this; the education system is a production line, and if you don’t fit the system you fail and go into the rejects box, and are either recycled or thrown out. Now I’m no education expert, but I know when a manufacturing system is screwed.

To make money you have to sell something, yet we seem to have become obsessed with the word ‘free’ on the internet – free content, free platforms, free products, free blogs, free uploads, free sharing and, well, just lots of free stuff. No wonder it’s a little noisy and we’re all wearing headphones. The SOPA debate about copyright, intellectual property (IP) and freedom of speech will run as long as the IP lawyers can make money out of it, and anyhow it’s not the focus of this article. Free has different meanings!

Let’s get a few things straight: free isn’t sustainable and doesn’t work in the long run. In fact, in some cases it’s just bullshit! People who complain that they aren’t making money out of their blog or social media activity are usually giving away too much for free. It’s time to put our capitalist hat back on and start monetising the communities we have grown. The market place is maturing and, thankfully, growing up.