It seems that while I was away a new kid on the social media block came onto the scene: Klout.

For those of you who don’t know, here’s what Klout does:

Our goal is to accurately measure that influence and provide context around who a person influences and the specific topics they are most influential on.

You can visit there website for all the details.  However, one thing stands out.  There website mentions only Twitter.  That’s it! Twitter.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I use Twitter. A lot. Maybe too much.  But I’ve received tons of business leads and personal satisfaction out of using Twitter. 

But there is more to clout/Klout than Twitter.  Nevermind the other social and digital tools like Facebook, YouTube, blogs and podcasts.

There are people whose digital life only exists on Twitter and they have a high Klout score.  Yet, in real life they are not growing.  On the other hand, there are people who have a large digital footprint across many online platforms.  They also have thriving businesses that work in conjunction with their online properties.  Yet this later group has a small Klout score. (I have purposely left out names so as to not piss people off.  But I invite you to experiment yourself)

So here’s the thing:  Forget about Klout.  I’m sure they’ll adapt and start to measure more things.  The important thing to remember though is this:

What is your purpose?  Why do you tweet? Blog? If you are fulfilling your purpose (business, personal, otherwise) then don’t worry about what your Klout is.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Klout and other “influence measurement” tools out there? What say you?

I’ve recently come back from a fantastic holiday in East Africa (which included a quick getaway to South Africa to watch Ghana spank USA during the Round of 16).

I had the opportunity to meet many business people and entrepreneurs in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and even South Africa.  One of the questions I got asked was, “I don’t get Twitter. Why should I bother reading what people are eating for breakfast?!”  Good point.

Allow me to make my point now:  Being on Twitter is not the same as being engaged on Twitter.

Now let’s discuss this.

The most popular accounts on Twitter are people you and I will probably never meet on a one-on-one basis.  Movie stars and TV personalities have huge followings because of the nature of their industry.  But they are not engaged with you and you are not really engaged with them.  They tell you what they have for lunch and you think that’s the reason Twitter was invented.

On the flip side, there are real people making real connections on Twitter.  It’s not the number of followers you have.  Instead, it’s about the depth of conversations you have on Twitter.

I use Twitter to brand myself.  I tweet about what I’m doing like waiting in the hospital for malaria tests.  But I also use it as a feed for my articles I write on Techvibes as well as on this blog.  And I also promote links to other tweets (called ReTweets) and articles that I find interesting.

Finally, I use Twitter to crowdsource help and ideas.  In fact, I can safely say that most of the people I’ve connected with IRL (In Real Life) in 2010 in Toronto and Kenya were people I first “met” via Twitter.

So the value of Twitter is not in the tool or software.  The value of Twitter, and other social media tools, is determined by the user and the level of engagement they pursue.

By the way, I had a peanut butter sandwich and orange juice for breakfast.

What say you?

It’s been a while wince I’ve blogged here.  If you’re wondering why I’ve been so quiet, I haven’t really.  I just need to focus on when I’m going to write or video blog here.  I have, however, been writing up a storm over at Techvibes.  There’s a link over to the right of this post to some of my stuff.

But before I go I have to tell you about @karimsreplies.

Many of you may know that I tweet.  Alot.  Not that much.  Guess it depends who you ask.  One of the things I found was that I was responding to alot of tweets.  And that’s a good thing.  The problem was that everyone would receive these tweets.  And sometimes this is not a good thing.  There is something called “noise”.  Noise is the stuff on Twitter and other social media platforms that doesn’t add any value. 

The question about value is relative.  If you don’t like the comment then it’s noise.  And then there’s the issue with Facebook.  All of my tweets end up on Facebook.  Some people think I’m the only one alive when they visit their Facebook pages.

So I have decided to fix it.  Partially. 

I’m still tweeting from @karimkanji.  And I encourage you to follow me.  Your IQ will actually increase as will your coolness factor. 

However, I will respond to tweets via @karimsreplies to help keep the noise down.  People can still follow me at @karimsreplies but now you know my purpose in tweeting from @karimsreplies.

I’ve been asked, “Why not just DM?”  Two reasons:  One, not everyone follows everyone.  And to DM someone on Twitter we need to be following each other.  Two, some people actually are interested in following the conversations happening over at @karimsreplies. 

So, if I’m your friend on Facebook you can thank me for the noticeable decline in tweets.  Also, if you’re a heavy tweeter, think about opening another Twitter account just to reply to people.  You’re still engaging but you’ll be a little less annoying.  And my sister says that’s a good thing.