There's a relatively new website out there called Klout.com. Heard of it?

Klout actually measures your online influence.

Your Klout score takes into account how much you post to Facebook, how often you're retweeted on Twitter, how many people view your Wordpress blog or your Youtube page, and lots more.

Klout tracks the number of people you actually reach (your True Reach) and how much they respond to you (your Amplification). It even tracks how influential the people in your network are.

Then they give you an overall score. I'm a 50, on a scale of 1-100. That's the number describing my level of influence. (For basis of comparison, Rick Warren is an 81)

My “type” of influence is a “Specialist,” someone who has a specific influence over a certain motivated group of people.

The question is, of course, is this really helpful? Or necessary? I don't know.

It's interesting tracking how your numbers rise and fall throughout the month. And there are certain perks available to people with different levels of Klout.

I leave it to you to decide if Klout is more than just a feature-rich popularity contest, but here are three things the site has taught me so far:

1. I have influence. I have an online flock. I'm a pastor, and there are people online who see me that way. People in my church. Even folks I went to high school with and haven't seen for 20 years. Or people I don't know who read my blogs and devotions. My ministry extends online.

2. I can develop my influence. According to Klout my style is “consistent” and “focused”. It probably wouldn't hurt for me to try to branch out and connect to more people I don't already know. Twitter is a particularly effective tool for this. Evangelism can happen online.

3. I can be influenced. It's a hard thing for some leaders (like me) to remember: There are other people out there with a lot to teach us. From blogs on sites like this one to tweets from great theologians and church leaders to Facebook pages about denominations, churches, and movements, The Church is online.

Another neat feature of Klout.com is the ability to give “+K” to people who have influenced you. It's a direct way to let others know their online efforts are working.

I'd tell you to “+K” me if this blog taught you anything, but I'm well aware how few in the church have stumbled upon Klout.com. There are large categories for music, sports, clothing, television, etc., and although there are some church leaders to be found, we've yet to make much of a mark on this new venture.

I'm not one for treating faith like a commodity...or am I? That would be a good topic for an online debate.

If you have an opinion on the matter, wouldn't it be nice to have some online “Klout” so people could hear it?