Seth Godin has an interesting post on his blog today entitled "Clout." He discusses the idea that somewhere out there are statistics on your followers, readers, friends and contacts, and in general those could in some way calculate your web clout. Then by knowing who of your readers/followers/subscribers/friends has the most clout you could write content that would speak to them.
This idea is a little bit disturbing to me in a world where rich people and actors achieve celebrity simply by virtue of... well sometimes I don't know what they are famous for. Ashton Kucher, any "star" of The Hills, John and Kate Plus 8, the Octomom.... these folks have people hanging on their every word. They have tons of web clout as defined by Godin. Yes, scary.
The web does not have any filter for quality. Like our society, it is a mish mash melting pot and sometimes sinks to the lowest common denominator. (A polar bear pooing in the water is one of today's viral videos for example.)
Well to me some of the "cloutyest" people on the net are just polar bears pooing in the water. Yes, I said it.
