If you receive an email and immediately delete it, the system knows. 
If you don’t respond to a phone call for a few weeks (or ever), the system knows.
If you never retweet, comment, link, or do anything that indicates you are paying attention to the content produced by someone else, the system starts to determine pretty quickly whom you think offers signal versus those who offer just noise.
Now, imagine a scenario where your value to the organization as discussed in your year-end review cycle, takes into account how relevant your network thinks your information stream is?
An employee comes into his boss’s office asking for a raise.
The manager says, “hmmm….well, it just seems from the data that most of the stuff you provide to your network/team/customers, etc. just doesn’t get read, shared, or acted upon.”
Sound far-fetched?
It’s not.
If a woman who works at a drive-thru window for McDonalds in Chandler, Arizona can have a fan page, then why can’t every single person in an organization have one? Heck, you can already assess the signal noise ratio of people on Twitter (the only thing I care about and can control..except generosity, I suppose).
And it need not be explicit in terms of number of fans. The behavior of your network will get aggregated and that information could, in theory, get shared with employers, co-workers, clients, etc.
You may say “I’m a great communicator and provide timely advice,” but the score that your network shares back with a potential customer says otherwise.
Lessons:
- Focus on only providing the highest quality content.
- Make it simple for others to respond to and act upon.
- Listen to their direct (and indirect feedback) and hone your communication styles.
