You (don't) have more power than you think

Before social media was common, the bar to get published was higher. You had to get “blessed” by so many people to make the cut.

Today, that “bar to get published” is almost invisible. There is nothing that will prevent you from publishing your thoughts to the world. Not money, not time, not even lack of ideas ( you can just post links from other places) can prevent you from publishing.

Think about it – whatever you do online, you will have a few followers.

Be angry online. And, some other angry people might want to follow you. Or some people who want to know why you are angry might follow you.

Be sad online. And, some other sad people might follow you. Or some other people who want to know why you are sad might want to follow you.

Be happy online. And, some other happy people might follow you. Or some other people who want to know why you are happy might want to follow you.

Be silly online. And, some other silly people might follow you. Or some other people who want to know why you are silly might want to follow you.

Be noisy online. And,  some other noisy people might follow you. Or some other people who want to know why you are noisy might want to follow you.

There will always be a few followers. However, treating that as a metric to measure your power and influence might be mis-leading at times.

When it comes to influence, other questions will become important.

Questions such as:

* Who is following you?
[How much influence do these followers have?]

* Why are they following you?
[Are they following you because you are following them?]

* What alternatives do these followers have?
[Are you one of the thousands they are following?]

* How much are they following you?
[What is their level of interest when they follow you? This makes a huge difference. If the interest is luke warm, they may be following you but may not take any action based on what you said]

* How are they spreading your message to their followers?
[Not all followers are sneezers. If you have sneezers among your followers, your followers will increase and thus increasing your influence]

Add your own questions to the above and most important – answer them. Otherwise, you might not have as much power as you think you have.

Popularity may not be a direct measure of power and/or influence.