How to Work With "Online Influencers"

What's an "online influencer?" The phrase sounds lofty, and is meant to describe someone who is actively involved with sharing information on sites like Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

But according to Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, there's a simpler definition that works just as well: "someone who shows up." In other words, in today's connected world, all you really have to do to distinguish yourself is to be active in online communities.

And how do you "work" with them? Simply, you engage them, Rainie says. You connect with them, let them know you have seen what they are writing/saying/posting, and offer your input, feedback, point of view or additional information. That's really it.

Rainie, who is a terrific speaker, was the guest today on a Bulldog Reporter audio conference. One of his big points is that we are now in an era of "networked individualism," in which people find connect and support from all types of sources and not just their friends and neighbors. That means that business, institutions and brands can be as connected to people as they want to be, serving as "friends," allies, conversationalists, and information sources.

Some other insights:

• Pew is very interested in the next wave of location-based apps, such as foursquare, that represent a melding of the information-based Internet with GPS technology, or as he put it, geo-knowledge systems.


• Pew is also working on research into how the Internet has changed all manner of institutions, and how teenagers are living their lives in this connected world.


• Asked to look into the future, Rainie said the biggest change is likely to be a "smarter" web, in which the computers become even better at interacting with us based on our preferences and other factors.