Got Klout?

Whether you realize it or not if you use Facebook or Twitter you have Klout. Klout.com measures or attempts to measures your connectivity and the influence you have with your peers, followers, and friends online. It is a flawed measurement as it doesn’t measure all your online activities and people have already begun gaming the system like search engine optimization experts frequently attempt to do. Though your Klout score isn’t perfect, it is gaining traction and is considered a valuable measure of your influence and online presence.

Update May 2018: Klout will no longer be running as a standalone service. You’ll just have to go back to obsessing over your Twitter and Instagram follower counts again. Me, I’ve got the most followers on WeChat because I’ve lived in China too long.

I remember when it used to be all about PageRank.  Now I don’t even know the PageRank of Muschamp.ca or this blog. Klout has been gaining support and partners and recently revamped their website.  In their new beta site I logged in and was informed:

Your Klout Score has fallen in the past month, but you’ve been able to stabilize it recently. Keep engaging with others, and continue creating engaging content to see your Klout Score rise again!

My score was as high as 47 but has now fallen to 42. Part of my problem is I don’t focus on a particular topic or issue, but the biggest thing holding my Klout score back is it currently doesn’t measure my LinkedIn network which is probably my largest and definitely my most valuable. It also doesn’t measure all the content on this domain, it doesn’t even measure all the participation I do in online communities outside of Facebook and Twitter. Adding LinkedIn to the Klout score calculation is something they are working on, as they asked me for my LinkedIn ID when I signed up, but they should consider adding DISQUS and some other services as well. Update: Here is an overview of the success Disqus has been having and a discussion on where it could be heading.

Advertisers are paying attention to Klout scores and people with a large number of online followers. Apparently the sweet spot is between 40 and 60 so I still am valuable to advertisers. I predict when they add in support for LinkedIn.com and other services I will become more valuable and since I’ve been participating in online communities since 1994, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to suddenly stop so my score could increase organically some.  For more thoughts on Klout and gaming Klout:

• Should We Be Keeping Score on Twitter? Klout Thinks So
• 10 ways to improve your Klout score
• Top 20 Vancouver Twitter Peeps Based on Klout Score
• Does your Klout Score determine your value?

This entry was originaly posted on May 5th, 2011, it was last edited on February 22nd, 2019 and is filed under: Technology and tagged: Disqus, Influence, Klout, PageRank, Social Media.