The metric of connection. Isn’t this what people are hoping to measure when they talk about page views, Facebook fan count, twitter followers and newsletter subscribers?

There might be some correlation, but we’re still trying to find a truthful way to interpret what those things mean. It seems that those things can be indicative of connection, but it might also just be an indication that someone has simply figured out how to push those numbers up without having actually done the hard work of connecting with the right people and creating something of value. If your only purpose is to push the numbers up, you greatly increase the potential of simply reaching people who love getting spam.

If you focus on connection and making art – building something with value over time, then the likelihood is greater that you won’t get caught in the false numbers-alone metric.

The key metric, it seems, is people who actually care. And you get to choose if you want to focus on those who care greatly or those who barely care enough to subscribe to one of your media channels.