Thoughts On Making The Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers List

It’s hard not to get a bit excited about accolades. I’ve been on lists before. It’s always an honor to be curated amongst others whom you respect deeply. But being ranked #22 on The Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers list definitely made me say, “Wow!”

But it’s important to put into context what is really happening here. Forbes contributer Haydn Shaughnessy curated a list of “social media power influencers” using some interesting new tools as part of a study he’s conducting:

The study is supported by PeekYou who have given me free access to their software, Leximancer, who have allowed me to use their semantic analysis platform for free, and Global Dawn who have met some of my wages while I do the work. Thanks to all.

 

He made it clear from the outset that this was his list, and not some “official” Forbes ranking.

But none of that really matters in today’s social media realm. His list was inevitably shared around as the “Forbes Top 50 Social Media Influencers” — a massive accolade that leverages the reputation that Forbes as spent decades building. This went nuts on Twitter and Facebook. Nobody bothered reading the fine print–that’s just the way it is with these things. I received far more comments and likes from a far wider range of people than I would normally expect for finding my name on a list. This was white hot social currency. It was the same for all of the others I checked with whose names were on the list.

Why such an sudden out pouring of congratulations? Why so many people from our pasts coming out of the woodwork to say, “I knew him before he was famous!” It’s truly an amazing phenomenon. My guess is that high accolades have some sort of halo effect. Anyone who feels close enough to offer congratulations somehow share in the glory–and in the social media world, so they should.

My first reaction was to thank my online community of friends and colleagues. It is they who give me whatever stature I have. They deserve the praise more than I.  In fact, there are no doubt many who deserved to be on that list more than I. I was ranked well above many people whom I admire greatly, and whom I think are far more “power influencers” than me. In fact, I’m sure that many people looked at the list and scoffed at where Shaughnessy’s tools had ranked us.

While I’m going to do a follow up with him on the study and methodology, now is a good time to restate the first rule of measuring influence: online influence scores often misrepresent people. Sometimes they err in your favor, other times they err against you. No algorithm can truly capture real influence. (In fact, increasingly I believe that most only measure presence.)

The ultimate gauge of influence still remains the human heart. My thanks to all those who touched mine with their praise and adulation.