Do we actually need metrics for 'social media influence?' How is this any different from an e-popularity contest? How does it change online communication for th

Do we actually need metrics for 'social media influence?' How is this any different from an e-popularity contest? How does it change online communication for the better? It seems like it is more a play for advertising. I grew up in the age of the Internet being this nerdy and niche thing where what we said online didn't quite have the levity of offline speech. That doesn't mean it wasn't important; but instead, the disconnected and semi-anonymous nature of the Internet made it such that the boring power hierarchy was not as much of a factor in communication as it would be in real life. Now, it seems like we want to re-create that using questionable metrics. Remember, if there's one thing humans always get right, it is using metrics properly!