I had no idea what he was talking about. Turns out my picture was right next to the likes of Blake Shelton, Chris Johnson, Dave Ramsey and my friend Kate O’Neill as being influential in Nashville. We were measured by our Klout score, which is a service that calculates a persons online influence. My buddy Dave Delaney got great recognition, as well as another friend Steve Chandler. I am connected to these people  because of social media so it makes sense that we are all friends. I am genuinely honored to be recognized as being influential in the social media world, but I had to chuckle at bit when I really thought about how this influence is measured.

I probably shouldn’t admit that I don’t really pay attention to Klout. I have never asked for a recommendation and don’t make a habit of checking my profile like I do my Twitter and Facebook. I don’t make a special effort to increase my Klout score. I just do what I do. I tweet a lot and push good information out so others can use it. I read people’s updates and comment on them. I blog and read other blogs. I connect people online and in real life.

To me, social media is an incredible tool to meet people and to help them. I am not saying I go all Mother Teresa and try to save the world one tweet at a time, but I genuinely try to connect people with resources or even a good coffee shop in town. A quick congratulations to a twitter friend or a “Like” on a great Facebook post doesn’t take long. This world is insanely small and social media makes it even smaller. The way I see it, I may as well bring as many good people together as possible. It makes our small world a happier world.

If you want to learn more about Klout, check out Dave Delaney’s post. He already did all the work explaining stuff and linking to other really smart people. And thanks for the picture, too! So glad they found one from 2 years and 10 pounds ago….

Family:

“Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.

In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.

We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.”

Board of Directors:

“We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.

His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”

So far – this is a win! Everyone should hop on this train. Will this fix the music industry. NO, IT WILL NOT! But, it is a great system for the consumer to finally have all the music at our fingertips.

From: Mike Jones
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:26 AM
To: Myspace All
Subject: IMPORTANT COMPANY NEWS
Importance: High

Today, we are announcing that Myspace will be acquired by Specific Media, one of the world’s leading online media and advertising platforms. Over the next few days you will be hearing from the team at Specific, including their CEO, Tim Vanderhook, regarding their exciting plans for Myspace and how it fits in with the overall vision of their company.

In conjunction with the deal, we are conducting a series of restructuring initiatives, including a significant reduction in our workforce.  I will assist Specific with the transition over the next two months before departing my role as Myspace CEO.

I wanted to take a minute to thank you all for the incredible experience it has been to lead this company and to work closely with all of you over the past several years. While I regret we won’t be working together at Myspace any longer, I am very proud of the work we have done here and believe we have performed with excellence – even under extremely difficult circumstances.

My time here at Myspace represents the most engaging and challenging time of my professional career. I have found our team to be comprised of the best people I have come across in our industry.

You can read the press release below.  Once again, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication.

Thanks,

-M