The good news is that my Klout score recently jumped from the 60s, where it has lingered for ages, up to 71, and then 74! It’s still rising.
The bad news is that I have no idea why, as I can’t attribute the change to any particular update or interaction.
Er, what’s Klout?
Klout is a measure of your influence on social media. Not just how many friends, fans and followers you have, but how many people engage with your updates, especially if they are ‘influential’ themselves. Find out more
If you have a Twitter account, you have a Klout score whether you like it or not (you can opt out if you wish).
“Mine’s bigger than yours”
You might see Twitter users bragging about their Klout score, in a ‘mine’s bigger than yours’ sort of way, and wonder why it’s important.
A score of 50 or more is perfectly respectable, and shows you are using social media effectively.
When you reach 60, you may be offered ‘perks’ such as discounted business card printing, in the hope you will praise the supplier on your networks.
Speaker bookers sometimes judge you by your Klout score, and I know at least one person who was offered a hotel upgrade because his score was high, and another who failed a job interview because his was low.
If you provide social media services for your clients (as I sometimes do), Klout can be useful to monitor results.
But your social media ‘friends’ are not really your friends
The trouble is, my best and most valued interactions are not on social media at all. Like most people, I engage with my closest friends face-to-face or over the phone. I don’t tweet them, update them via Facebook, or even have them as LinkedIn contacts.
So Klout doesn’t know anything about my real friends. All it really measures is my interactions with online acquaintances. It seems I get a good score for that. I just hope my score for interacting with my real-life friends is as good, if not better.
How about you?
