A Quick Look at My Rout Score

With all of the uproar about Klout scores dropping – which, admittedly, I was a part of – I thought I’d take a look at another social media influence tool. TechyDad introduced the world to Rout.

At first, I was unhappy to see my Rout score was a 4 yesterday. But then it went up to 84, and I was far happier. I checked it again today, and it was a 91! That’s more like it.

But a number simply isn’t good enough for me. Klout has topics it believes I am influential about, currently: small business, social media, blogging, branding, Nutella, disability, community, moms, parenting, food, Buffalo Wild Wings, baking, movies, Facebook, photography, and road trip. (Seriously, Klout? I used the #roadtrip hashtag back in June for the Type-A Parent Conference, and I never used it again. Why it is still showing up as a topic I’m influential in when it’s nearly November?)

TechyDad hasn’t released this super secret feature yet, but it also lets you choose topics you’re influential about. Some of my Rout topics are in line with my Klout topics, but some are not.

Rout thinks I’m influential about:

• Blogging. You are on my blog, are you not? And I share good information about blogging from conferences I’ve attended.
• Social Media. I live on social media. You’re reading this tongue-in-cheek blog posts about social media. Bam.
• Small Business. Yep, I am a small business owner, and I love to support other small business owners.
• Branding. Oddly, I seem to have picked up a knack for branding advice, though most often what NOT to do.
• Nutella. Yes. I have introduced many people to the joy of Nutella, shared Nutella recipes and snack ideas with my followers, and regularly share random Nutella SQUEE moments on Twitter.
• Chronic Illness. I like this term better than Disability, because I think it encompasses my information sharing, awareness, and advocacy efforts related to Depression, Anxiety, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome better.
• Community. This is all about building a community, isn’t it? I try to encourage people to be inclusive rather than exclusive, and honest instead of exploitative.
• Moms & Parenting. I’ll just throw these together. I think it’s obvious why. [see blog name]
• Food. I’m always talking about food. What should I have for lunch? This is what I had for lunch. Here’s a picture of my lunch. Between those two options, this is what you should have for lunch. Oh, and did I mention brownies? I don’t think I need Baking to be a separate topic. I bake food, not pottery…
• Restaurants. Why single out Buffalo Wild Wings, even though I’m there every week to co-work? I’m at restaurants all the time. It’s a vice for my clan. My family (including parents, grandma, mother-in-law, siblings and their spouses…) is known to at least 10 local restaurants as “regulars.” We have servers who know us by name, remember our orders, and expect Christmas cards with school pictures in them. Plus? @Outback called me their best mate, and @McDonalds sent me certificates to try their real fruit smoothies for free when I mentioned I’d never had one. (Mango pineapple smoothie? Awesome, by the way.) Clearly, I have influence.
• Movies. Sure. I like to comment on the movies we rent via Netflix, or the rare ones we see in theaters. Maybe people listen. Plus, if people think I’m influential, maybe I’ll start getting passes to free screenings. Score!
• Bad Smartphone Photography. I am seriously not a good photographer, so I rather pity anyone who thinks I’m influential about photography. I am, however, pretty awesome at taking mediocre pictures with my smartphone and uploading them to Twitter via Yfrog. Maybe when I can finally find a Droid with a non-touchscreen keyboard that I can afford and use wih AT&T, I’ll be able to take decent pictures with my phone. But my Blackberry sucks with photos.
• Writing. I’m a writer. Like, for a living. Writing and editing, actually. I’d also accept Grammar as something I’m influential in, since I like to point out and correct errors, but Writing sort of covers all my bases.
• Lack of Willpower. I almost put something related to healthier eating, but let’s face it. I may buy the Wonder Smart White Bread (with extra fiber, vitamins, and minerals) and the Prego Veggie Smart Tomato Sauce (with extra veggies we wouldn’t otherwise eat) and other sneakily nutritious items, but when push comes to shove, I’m pulling out the box of brownie mix and scarfing down two of them when they’re still warm from the oven. What’s worse? I encourage others to do the same when they tweet about snacktime dilemmas. I don’t feel too bad, though, when I’m encouraging consumption of WhoNu Cookies. They’re a dietary supplement, aren’t they?

How about you? How’s your Rout score? And what topics are you influential about? Comment away, or write your own post about Rout and drop your link in the comments section.

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.