How important is social influence and why should we care?

Those two questions have been buzzing around my head like maddening bees for days now as I prepare a discussion for a Social Media for PR class at RIT.

With the seeming boom in social influence measuring tools (Klout, PeerIndex, Empire Avenue, TwentyFeet, to name a few) in the end what do all of these scores mean if you are a marketer or a public relations professional?

So to find out what the world thinks I'm simply going to ask three questions and see who responds.

For this unscientific survey I will ask people active in social media and perhaps not-so-active in social media to give short answers (by Twitter DM or "@" message to @mikefixs if necessary).

The three questions:

1. Why does social influence matter to a brand, business or organization?

2. How or does social influence determine who you interact with?

3. Has social influence on your end or the customer/client's end played a role in a successful or better outcome?

Please use the Comments area below to answer.

Any help you can give in spreading this request to others in social media would be greatly appreciated.