#measurePR Aug. 21, ’12: How Much #kred Does #klout Have?

September 13th, 2012 | Shonali Burke | 7 Comments

Jen Zingsheim, who periodically guest-moderates #measurePR, was on hand on August 21 to do just this. Here’s her recap of the chat.

The August 21 #MeasurePR chat was a fun and lively discussion about a few topics of interest to measurement geeks—including the notorious topic we love to pick apart: Klout.

Image: The Eyes of New York via Flickr, CC 2.0

Here are some highlights:

Klout has recently made changes to its algorithm, many of which appear to be in response to (heavy) criticism of the “influence” tool. For example, the “vacation effect,” wherein scores drop due to a temporary hiatus from activity, has been addressed.

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Filed under Guest Posts, Measurement, MeasurePR, Public Relations, Social Media | Tags: influence, jen zingsheim, klout, kred, PR measurement | Comments (7)

Why Klout Doesn’t Measure True Influence

July 19th, 2012 | Matt LaCasse | 36 Comments

I’ll admit that it’s fun to bash Klout. They are on the front lines of the Wild West of determining influence, and who is doing that influencing, online.

Posts have been written ad nauseam (including on this blog, though they’re not the nauseating kind) on the plusses and minuses of Klout’s service, but I think I’ve finally nailed down what bothers me about the service (which I’m still a member of and will continue to use).

I have the belief that, despite what Klout says, it ties a large part of how “influential” you are directly to how much you tweet.

What’s your proof, LaCasse?

Glad you asked.

Filed under Guest Posts, Matt LaCasse, Measurement, Social Media | Tags: influence, influencers, klout, Social Media, Twitter | Comments (36)

Why a Social Credit Score is an Empty and Dangerous Notion

November 21st, 2011 | Guest Contributor | 36 Comments

Guest post by Pierre-Loic Assayag

I’m being challenged to a battle of egos by a stranger on Twitter:

“@pierreloic your Klout Score is 33 (I’m a 51). Check out your @klout profile today.”

Of course, I could always ask Shonali to the rescue. She’s after all “a 63″ and the Klout resident expert on all things bacon and Kim Kardashian.

Instead, this tweet made me reflect on what could have become of the business I co-founded, Traackr (an influencer discovery platform).

I’m glad we didn’t let it.

Back in 2007, my co-founder, David, and I kicked around ideas fairly similar to what Klout does today. We even built and launched a consumer app helping power users (the term “influencer” didn’t exist to describe online authorities at the time) measure their success and gain insights on their contribution, their peer network, etc.