It seems that today everyone thinks they can write and preach about influence, even though they have no clue as to what influence is. In order to rank people on the ability to influence we need to understand influence, not just define it.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was once famously quoted as saying that "A more open and connected world will help create...more authentic businesses and better products and services." That vision is already being realized, and its name is collaborative marketing.

The major problem we have today in the social space when it comes to measuring influence is that we do not yet have a solid definition of what online influence is.

Marketers need to develop a robust conceptualization of influence within the context of social media so they don't have to rely solely on the definitions provided by Klout, Kred and other tools.

Their ad asks, "Would you date someone with a lower Klout score?" Why does a Klout score matter when it comes to dating, and where is this leading us when it comes to measuring social influence?