Well, it does seem that people in social media circles have now decided that ones Klout score would be a greater gauge of their abilities to help businesses with social media than more traditional methods such as client testimonials, case studies of campaigns they have worked on, etc.

Don’t get me wrong, i’m a fan of Klout – it gives people who work with social media the opportunity to see how well they are doing and how effective their online interactions are…but for the love of all that is great and good in this world – it is NOT the be-all and end-all.

Lets have a bit of a look. Earlier this year, Klout changed their algorithms for defining influence – in an attempt to make their scores more realistic and give a greater level of clarity. This wasn’t met with the most positive reaction, but this is to be expected, mainly as many of the users found their score had dwindled. This is the element that i’ve not got my head around – surely it should be greeted with the mindset of ‘Ok, maybe i’m not doing as well as i’d like…right, time to make amends!’, rather than being used as a status symbol for the so-called experts. I’m not going to sit here and blindly defend Klout, that’s not the point. I’ve noticed that my score rises and falls like the tides and my score has raised when my interactions online have been lesser…yeah, make of that what you will.

So is social media about helping clients make the most of rapidly growing and exciting platforms, or are they simply now one great big popularity contest? I still cling on to the concept that it is the former – pulling in our knowledge and understanding of a variety of different facets (marketing, psychology, PR) to give businesses and individuals the edge in a now cluttered online world.

I know that being seen is of course important, but is it now the defining aspect that a score on a site such as Klout should have as much impact as it does? For me, i think it should be used as an indicator only – nothing, and i mean nothing can replace the skills and experience that social media experts have built over the years. Will it stay that way though? I guess only time will tell.

This is the awkward first blog entry, which will likely be followed by the awkward second blog post. So, lets get the introduction out of the way, shall we? My name is Graham. I’m a Social Media trainer for a local web company and a complete geek. I live in West Sussex with my long suffering girlfriend and a huge book and DVD collection. The name of the blog pertains to the fact that i often go by the name of The Gruffalo, given my rarely shaven nature. I stress, that’s where the connection ends – i’m not a fictional children’s character, for one.

This blog will be mainly a social media bonanza, giving you news, opinion, advice and occasional rants as the occasion seems fit. Given the nature of my job in the web world there’ll be other posts relating to all aspects of design, development, SEO, marketing with a down to earth and (sometimes) friendly tone – that’s what can be missing in an otherwise confusing world. Hopefully there’ll be enough to keep you entertained, informed and if there’s any questions then please, let me know!

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget your coat- it was good to see you.