The Art of Linking The Art of Linking Joanne Jacobs Technology Strategist and Interaction Designer Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK2 Index Presentation purpose The social act of linking Linking variations Linking and influence The Klout/Peer Index experiment Experiment results: Klout Experiment results: Peer Index Interpreting the results Experimenting with tools Lessons on linking Linking as an art Qualitative measures and art Observations on linking Observations on influence Questions? NB: all images used in this presentation are subject to CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution licenses. The source of all images is included in slides. The art of linking extends to practice as well as theory. CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution licenses

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK3 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK4 Presentation purpose To show how sharing of links affects perceived authority. To show how connections between people form the basis of influence. Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK5 Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK6 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK7 The social act of linking Linking of any kind is inherently a social act Sharing links to content is an invitation (or excuse) for social interaction Social media that facilitate content as well as interpersonal links are almost accidentally useful: –Human filters better than algorithms –Conversations around links clarify and extend understanding Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK8 Linking variations Forging a connection between people online; Linking to content and websites you have developed; Linking to content you think will be relevant for your audience. Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK9 Strategy 1: Linking to people Real world: family, friends business Online: real world plus people you admire, find useful or those recommended to you Link for information, reputation, opportunity User behaviour online can be broadcast or passive recipient of content – links to people will be affected by this behaviour Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK10 Strategy 2: Linking to your content Perception: drives traffic/influence Reality: stronger search relationship with own content Implications: can involve adjustments to perceived authority and influence but this is secondary to amplification Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK11 Strategy 3: Linking to other content Value highly dependent on: –Link timing; –Content quality; –Track record of shared links; –Audience makeup. Can actually reduce perceived engagement and ‘presence’ In spite of influence scoring systems, only truly useful when irregular Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK12 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK13 Linking and influence Why focus on linking and influence? –Businesses seeking influence metrics and mechanisms to justify expenditure in social media; –Influence scoring systems take links between people and content; –Scoring tools focus predominantly on quantitative measures. Possible to ‘game’ the scoring systems NB: Influence actually a much more subtle concept Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK14 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK15 The Klout/Peer Index experiment Purpose: to discover what is measured Link strategy: –Linked to content I found interesting –Did not attempt to link to people –Did not create much new content of my own Method: 20 mins of link research each day, producing between 8-12 links in tweets. Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK16 Tweet list

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK17 RSS

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK18 Timed link sharing

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK19 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK20 Experiment results: Klout Started with a score of 57 Score went up dramatically initially Score peaked at 71 in July Score began to wane as more content sharing tools (Flickr, LinkedIn) were measured with Klout, and trust in presence reduced.

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK21 Experiment results: Peer Index Started with a score of 61 Score went down to 58 with content linking Score eventually rose back to 60, as activity rose, but authority and audience still declined.

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK22 Interpreting the results Other results: marked rise in retweets, followers Reduced engagement in conversations Google+ launch a factor in audience activity during the course of the experiment Need to interpret results in terms of links not made: people, own content Need to remember results based on measurement tools, not actual influence Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK23 Where to from here Experiment will continue until end of October Will include more own content Will share more on LinkedIn, Flickr Will NOT link to people (to show how this affects audience/perceived authority) Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK24 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK25 Experimenting with tools Algorithms based on quantitative measures don’t represent reality of contribution: –Links uninteresting; –Poor timing, etc. Social act of linking can be compromised by automation techniques Measurement of links thus NOT a measure of social performance Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK26 Lessons on linking Linking to people involves conversation, not just follower numbers, connections Linking to content may be interesting but works best when done irregularly as this notes special rather than general interest Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK27 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK28 Linking as an art Art is intuitive, not necessarily rational Art is creative, and resists quantifiable measurement, but encourages emotional reactions Art is a context for communication and re-presentation The act of linking qualifies as an art Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK29 The Art of Linking Linking as a social act Linking as an art Linking and influence Communication context Qualities of art Measurement of influence Linking as creativity, adaption Klout/PeerIndex Experiment Results, Lessons

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK30 Qualitative measures and art Art can be evaluated in qualitative terms: –Signs/meaning –Category/format –Emotional response elicited –Creative/adaptive potential –Perceptions arising from work (how useful, complete, reliable, what could be improved, etc) These qualities cannot be expressed through sharing, audience numbers. Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK31 Observations on linking Qualitative measures more useful if ‘measuring’ linking: –Perception based on endorsements received –Perception as revealed in survey analysis –Quality of output in area of expertise –Humility, openness, responsiveness to others Linking creates an archive – of people, content. This is of personal value, unrelated to influence Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK32 Observations on influence Influence cannot be measured by activity and audience Influence may be affected by perceived authority (qualitative measure) but need to ask who is being influenced, and for what purpose Social act of linking only relevant to influence when it is genuinely social. Image source:

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK33 Final two thoughts… 1.Linking is an art, not a science. Like art, it resists measurement, but engages on the basis of stories. 2. Don’t let the ROI blind you to the creative opportunity of linking.

LincUpLive 2011, Lincoln, UK34 Questions? Joanne Jacobs Tech Strategy | Interaction Design Blog: Twitter: Skype: bgsbjjbgsbjj Skype-in: (+44) Mob: (+44) NB: all images used in this presentation are subject to CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution licenses. The source of all images is included in slides. The art of linking extends to practice as well as theory. CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution licenses