If you’re familiar with Klout, then you know they have a score that allegedly measures your social influence. You could call that social authority, but I wouldn’t claim that you can put a number on it.

In a nutshell, social authority is your measure of influence in social media and beyond. It’s how people view you on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. And I don’t just mean your friends and followers. I’m also talking about professionals who might evaluate what you have to offer in the marketplace of ideas.

Social authority is determined by a number of factors, most of which are in your direct control.

• How often you post – For instance, one measure of social authority is how often you post on the social networks you are a part of.
• Which social networks you are on – Another measure is which social media networks you regularly interact in. This goes beyond posting. It also has to do with communities and groups you may be a member of.
• Who your friends are – Are you friends with heavy influencers? Do they often re-post items that you share, or do they ignore you? Do they interact with you?
• How relevant is your content? – Do you regularly post items that are on topic or do you post off-topic content often?
• Content variety – Do you post only links to your own content or do you post links to videos, photos, and other media that are not self-promotional? Self-promotional links are good on occasion, but if that is all you post, then you will diminish your social authority.

Social authority is a measure of your online connectedness. In today’s online marketing climate, it’s important to be connected deep and wide within your networks.