Influence vs. Popularity
Vocus: Popularity is that people like you. Influence is when people listen to you; http://j.mp/cxE9gH (via @pfandtasse)
Kagan: What the F**k is Social Media NOW? http://j.mp/b8lCsN (via @Mark_Zimmermann)
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Rubel: It is time to prepare for the end of the Web as we know it; http://j.mp/a5ogtn
Jarvis: We can think of journalists as enablers, community organizers, teachers, curators, filters; http://j.mp/92rqBd
Gerrit Eicker 07:41 on 4. October 2010 Permalink |
Vocus (PDF): “Influence is different from popularity but… An overwhelming 90% of respondents perceive a big difference between ‘influence’ and ‘popularity.’ However, qualitative review of open ended comments on this question shows the distinction is not always clear. A follow-on question also adds ambiguity, with 84% of respondents saying that there is a correlation between ‘reach’ and ‘influence’ on social networks. – Quality of network and quality of content have a defining impact on influence. The top contributing factors that make a person or brand influential include the ‘quality or focus of the network’ (60%), the ‘quality of content’ (55%), which tied with the ‘capacity to create measurable outcomes’ (55%), and the ‘depth of relationship’ a person or brand has with social contacts (40%). – Content is king, but context is queen. 50% of respondents said that the single most important action a person or brand can take to increase their influence online was to ‘create, post or share compelling content.’ – Views vary on effective measurement. A majority, 29% of respondents, said ‘action’ is the most important measure of effectiveness in social media, yet more than one-third (36%) also ranked ‘action’ as the least important. – Senior execs are willing to pay for influence. 57% of respondents said they would be willing to pay an influencer to help ‘drive actions and outcomes.’ Cross-tab analysis by title, role and organization provided additional insight as to who exactly is willing to pay for influence. A cross-tab analysis by title showed that the executive level, such as CEOs and CMOs (63%), would be most willing to pay for influence.”
Gerrit Eicker 07:48 on 4. October 2010 Permalink |
Vocus (PDF): “Influence is not popularity – 90% of respondents seemingly drew a clear distinction when asked the ‘yes or no’ question, ‘Is there a big difference between popularity and influence?’ The 237 open-ended comments submitted along with this question indicated a perception that influence is serious and popularity is fun. – Influence drives, motivates, is steadfast, and causes people to take action, while popularity is hip, perhaps amusing and wanes easily amid a fickle audience. ‘Liking you and listening to you are two different things,’ wrote one respondent. ‘Popularity is an expression of volume while influence is an expression of value,’ said another. Some felt popularity was simply not linked to influence. ‘The way I see it, Simon Cowell from American Idol had influence, even when he wasn’t very popular,’ added a third respondent.”
Gerrit Eicker 07:49 on 4. October 2010 Permalink |
Vocus (PDF): “This analysis of the previous question was validated in a follow-up question where respondents were asked to choose the single most important action a person or brand could take to increase their influence online. Fifty percent of respondents said, ‘create, share or post compelling content.’ Authenticity, a defining principle of social media ranked next with 31%, while ‘focus on contributing to fewer conversations, but more in depth’ ranked third with 10%. The remaining difference was near-evenly spread among the remaining choices including, ‘Contribute to as many social media conversations as possible,’ ‘connect with famous or influential people,’ and ‘be famous offline.'”