Is "Credibility" Really Credibility if you have to Pay to GET Credibility?
I had an email not so long ago from one of those social media "ranking" companies that claims to be able to aggregate your online activity, then list your profile and assign you an "importance score" so interested observers can easily see whether or not you really have any reach and influence on the web.
On the surface, that seems like a fair enough idea; perhaps more so if your ambition on life is to become a so-called "influencer."
I did remember making a profile on the particular site in question many years ago... mostly because it seemed like a good idea to have a place that collected your social media activity and actually quantified the extent of your online influence. This was a good bit before there was even a Steemit.
If you live in the US, online "Cred" is a bit like having a "Credit Score," except for your online activities and interactions.
For some years — way back when — a company called "Klout" was the market leader in this field, but they shut down in May 2018... perhaps testament to the fact that most people in the world of the WWW would rather run on rumors and innuendo than actual facts...
As a sidetrack, it reminds a bit of Steemit, Inc.'s plans to launch SMTs a while back because — in a sense — the same paradigm applies: Few people who "believe themselves to be influencers" want to actually experience the unpleasant wakeup call that nobody actually cares about their world, and that the time and effort investment they make in their alleged "visbility" actually has no tangible worth.
99.99% of us are only interesting to a minute group of people.
But I digress.
The primary purpose behind the email I received from this "ranking service" was that my ancient profile with them supposedly "went dark" at the end of November, and for me to please pay them the "annual fee" (of US $199) to make it live again, before it gets permanently deleted.
Now, whereas I can appreciate the fundamental reality that "we all need to eat" (and thus charge money for what we do), I question how comprehensive and objective a "ranking service" can actually be, if the rankings are contingent on those being ranked PAYING to be ranked. Sounds more like a "vanity publication" (like those "Who's Who in XYZ Industry" books we sometimes get solicited to be included in) than an actual ranking service.
If you consider a credit reporting service like Trans-Union or Equifax, they don't make their living from charging consumers to keep track of their credit scores, they charge the companies who use the service, typically to extend credit or make loans. And perhaps they make a little extra from advertising and adjunct services like credit monitoring.
Anyway, the email left me shaking my head again, as I realized that having a "Kred Score" amounted to little more than being a measurement of people willing to spend anywhere from $17 to $199 a month to have some sort of public validation that they are "busy bees" on the Social Internet. And even then... what good is it really, if the ranking service only bases its subscriber scores of those social media sites that agree to cooperate... IF I were silly enough to subscribe, my activity influence here in Steemlandia certainly wouldn't be included in the metric.
Ultimately, it struck me as yet another attempt to charge "Money For Nothing."
Thanks for reading and have a great week ahead!
How about YOU? Have you ever come across — or used — a social media ranking service? Does it seem like a worthy thing to you? Or just a sketchy way to make money? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20210613 23:33 PDT
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