Does anyone remember this childhood story by Hans Christian Andersen? ( Story ) After spending a ton of money for real gold fabric and months of labor, the Emperor was sure he had the finest outfit ever made. He strutted down the street wearing it, and everyone said how fine he looked. But his subjects secretly snickered because he was wearing nothing at all! Over the months, they had all pretended that he was getting real fabric and thread and labor.
What does @Klout "wear"?
I read (at least a year ago) that if you don't have a @Klout score of over 60, you'll be treated badly at the big hotels and restaurants in New York and Las Vegas. So I decided to get my score to 62 before my next trips to those cities.
With great anticipation, I waited for the desk people at The Carlyle to mention - or ask for - my 62 score. They didn't. Further, when I asked if they wanted it, they looked at me like I had two heads! The next try at The Wynn (what a completely fabulous hotel, by the way) produced the same (non-) results!
Deciding that the @Klout was new, I gave it another year. But the effort to stay at 62 became increasingly difficult since I only have about 30 minutes/day for social media. Sadly, I have to work at my day job, too. I began to feel like a hamster on the proverbial treadmill!
Then it got even worse this past Fall. @Klout "demoted" me because they started using a new, "better" "algorhythm." I fell to a 47!! Back to the drawing board: I began to "work" like crazy to get up to...a 52? Holy cow! So I became an addict...tweeting more and more and then checking my daily "score" to see if it had gone higher. It reminds me of when I used to go on diets: I'd get on the scale morning, noon and night hoping that the needle had moved in the right direction. It rarely did!
So gradually I had to stop and ask myself the question: "If I can get a better @Klout rating, what will I get?" Will it help me make more money? More friends? Or help me become happier or smarter?
No, no and no. @Klout may be important for the movie stars. But I'm no movie star. And in the great scheme of things, I am just a 37 in life (or lower because Hillary Clinton is a 37 and she's actually world-class fabulous!).
So I opted out last week and threw away the treadmill. I don't do anything social media-wise any differently...just less of it. And I love the freedom, the lack of (perceived) @klout criticism and implied "Do better!" admonishment.
I'd love to know how others feel about this subject! Please share!
Ellen
