My July 17 post shared a link to an article about Fast Company‘s “The Influence Project.” In my introduction, I shared that I felt “sucked in” by the influence project tweets. The standard message was a link to a Fast Company article, along with the text “You are more influential than you think.”
I clicked the link the first time I came across it. My action had nothing to do with the person the tweet was attached to. As a person who is interested in leadership, I was very much interested in the topic of influence.
I was hoping that it was going to be another great article from Fast Company; well-written and informative about a current business topic. I was disappointed when it turned out to be nothing more than a popularity contest, of sorts. How many people could the users “influence” to click the link?
Although I saw the link in many, many more tweets, I did not click it any more. I felt tricked by the project. I felt bad that someone’s alleged influence rating was going to be higher because I happened to click the link attached to that particular person, instead of someone whose thoughts on leadership and influence I really do respect.
Curious as I am, though, I could not let it be. With each subsequent tweet, my interest was piqued a little more. I decided to do a little quick research about what prompted The Influence Project. The explanation is in the link I provided in my July 17 post and can also be found here. Once I understood the genesis of the project, I thought I was done, until…
…This past weekend I received an email, inviting me to become a “pirate” and join ItStartsWith.Us in “hijacking” The Influence Project. The plan is to steer the project away from a simple follower count and towards a mission of real purpose – sharing good.
Ahoy, matey! Now, that IS influence!
More to come over the next week. For now, join me! Click HERE. Let’s see what’s possible.
#hijackFC
