“Maybe“

is about the best answer possible now.

An earlier post on online social capital and influence touched on managing it as an asset, and certainly there is an increasing awareness of the value of online social capital in business and personal life.  (This is not to be confused with traditional social capital, an emerging industry)

But perhaps this is still the dawning of the age of online influence peddling, at least among the social networking crowd.

There are many ways to measure online influence, such as page rank. The current rage is one’s online social ranking.

People are proud of their top (or rising) popularity listings on Twitter Grader, Twitterholic, and other ranking services.  These rankings may not out-last the recession as sites like Tweeterboard shut down when there is no long-term sustainability model for it.  But blogs like Twitterfacts point to many services to rank these top “Tweeples” (Twitter people), some of whom I’m met in real life.  They are having fun as they engage on- and off-line with a large number of people.

In researching for this write-up, the term “social influence counter-measures” came up in a non-web context.  Yet, the online meaning of this term carries significance.  Every social media marketing campaign involves counter-measures.  The campaign goal is to influence, and to thus overcome/counteract/eliminate competing social influences.

Think this stuff is small potatoes? Not.  The largest search engine (and perhaps largest brand worldwide) is looking to patent social influence.  Perhaps this technique will allow social networks to monetize better.  Perhaps it will be the number that you use to rank & value yourself online.

A Chicago VC wrote about the possible profitability for those who can “effectively harness the power of influence across networks“.  But, this influence is classically not just about money.

Moreover, it could allow election campaigns to factor in and influence the popularity contest aspect in an unprecedented way.  How much would it be worth to know exactly who influences your opponents followers?  (It will always also depends on who actually votes.)  Or how would you combat a decline of confidence in leadership? But, for the individual who blogs or tweets their way to social stardom, there are established and emerging payoffs.  Paid blogging posts have been around for years, and now popular Twitter posters can earn some bling (although perhaps not a full-time income).

Better to be popular doing what you love… what you’re passionate about. Why? The solution for monetizing your online social capital or influence is still evolving. The economy may not support it en masse for years, although some people will make money. And the general advice given by many is to do what you love and the money will follow.