Influence is one of those tech buzz words that's been making the rounds in the last year or so. Everybody wants to be an "influencer," basically just someone whose opinion matters. But is it just as simple as people caring what you have to say? Not exactly.

In the SXSW Interactive 2011 panel "The Science of Influence", Dan Zarrella (HubSpot), Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb), Michael Wu (Lithium Technologies) and Ramya Krishnamurthy (Klout) break down what makes someone an influencer and what exactly that entails.

Click here to listen to The Science of Influence.

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Photo of speakers at SXSW 2012 by Alberto JImenez