As it is kind of my job to know what works and what does not, I did join Klout to see what all the fuss was about, some time ago. And rapidly realised it was not a system reliably informing anyone of anything, quite frankly.
It’s nonsense. And anyone that considers your worth by your Klout score is really not looking at things sensibly – so do you want to work with or for them?
For instance – I have a Klout score of 57 at time of writing. A reasonable score, I imagine, but one based on what exactly? Recently I have tweeted and blogged less than usual. I may have a few thousand Twitter followers, but how many of those are active? And of the 20 topics Klout considers me influential about, I’d say over half really are utter tosh.
If I can be considered Klout-worthy based on my public online activity, then it really is nonsense. I don’t deserve it of late – an example that it really does not work as I think it’s supposed to.
A fine idea that doesn’t actually work beyond a bit of self-preening vanity for those with nothing better to do.
Move along to something more useful – nothing to see here…
Or do you think differently? Share, tell us what we’re missing.
This is the first in a series of “Should I bother with…” posts – to give you a no-flannel response when you consider the many social media playthings/tools.
Babs
Nope you’re absolutely on the money – the whole thing is utterly meaningless. Although obviously I’m secretly jealous of your score 😉
Seriously, marketers taking seriously a single number for “influence” seems like the most colossal step backwards in this day and age. Influential to who, and about what?! Last I saw, some big brands were mug enough to be offering perks to various high scorers – which often means the likes of Justin Bieber. Great if you’re only marketing to 12-year-old girls…
You’ve hit the nail on the head, Barbara.
I ran a webinar last year in which I demonstrated how I could move my Klout score from 17 to mid-50s and back again without any change in my real ‘influence’ – I have no idea or desire to know what my current score lies at.
Klout focuses on the wrong criteria and apart from some very obvious celebrities, its results are very open to ‘tweaking’ and are often wrong/irrelevant.
I agree. We have so many choices on how to promote ourselves. As a WordPress trainer and Website Designer, and public speaker, I am constantly asked what is worth the effort to spend time on.
Most authors I work with can barely get their own books done, let alone FB, Twitter, Linkedin and the many other channels now we can use. Pinterest, Youtube, Vimeo, Tumblr. It is unending. I do not know one person who is using Klout or any people who are judging people by their “Klout Score”. This one is a pass.