Louis CK vs. Klout: Finding the balance between living and tweeting

During a recent appearance on Conan on TBS, popular comedian Louis CK had less than great things to say about the current obsession with all things social media. When asked for his opinion on social media, Louis responded that he “kinda hates it” and went on to (hilariously) describe how he believes it’s changing the way we view the world. The comedian made the astute observation that “doing everything available to do” isn’t a good idea and that there’s a current sense of urgency to join every new network as soon as it’s available.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s Klout, a tool that analyzes on-line influence by measuring your social media impact. Klout cultivates a score, ranging anywhere from 1 to 100, using three different components:

• True Reach: How many people you influence
• Amplification: How much you influence them
• Network Impact: Influence of network

Not only can Klout give you a confidence boost, or send you tweeting like mad to improve your score, but the site also offers Klout “perks”: freebies from companies such as Disney or Audi that are awarded to top on-line influencers. Much to Mr. CK’s dismay, Klout encourages users to “consistently create great content that people what to share and respond to” in order to improve their Klout scores.

In September, a Fashion Night Out party in Miami based its invites on the influencing ability of attendees: those invited must have a Klout score of 40 or higher to attend the event. Sherilynn Macale  wrote for The Next Web about the event’s interesting approach and sat down with the agency responsible for the event, The brpr Group, to gain more insight into the reason for using Klout. The agency said using Klout ensured the client only the most socially relevant were present, which would hopefully translate into free coverage via Twitter, Foursquare, and Facebook.

So, how do we balance our lives in this social media-drenched world? Is Louis CK right in saying that we’ve lost our ability to experience life in the moment? Or are we all too concerned with elevating our Klout score to even care? Let me know what your take is in the comments section.