This may be a spectacularly unpopular opinion. But it is just that, one opinion. I mean no offense to those of you who anxiously await your latest Klout score, I really don’t. That’s your personal choice, and I respect that. I just want to express why, for me personally, none of this is about increasing my Klout score. I’m not even signed up for Klout and unless someone can convince me that it’s essential to my further professional development, I intend to keep it that way.
The best, most candid article I have seen on the topic of Klout and other influence measurement tools lately is this: Twitalyzer and Klout. In it, Eric Peterson says:
“I personally think that any company or individual who is making a hiring or contracting decision based on our data, Klout scores, or any number is making a huge mistake! No disrespect to Klout, or any of the other measurement services out there, but there is no calculation that tells you nearly enough about an individual to allow you to make a buying, hiring, or any other kind of personal decision. At the point where we are making personal decisions based on a single number — one that even in a transparent system like ours people still don’t take the time to understand completely — our humanity has been lost and, in my humble opinion, we are better off turning the damn machines off and calling it a day.”
Amen, Eric.
I also really dig this post from my super-smart coworker, Addy Drencheva: When a Klout Score is Not Enough. She takes a very pragmatic, balanced approach to measurement. Addy says: “In all fairness, Klout does allow you to search for influencers within certain topics, but there are two problems with it. First, it still provides a single number to rank all users, not a number within an industry. Second, users have to sign up for Klout for others to see their score. Although it might seem ridiculously irrational to some of us, there are people who tweet and blog for reasons other than influence and sales.”
Amen, Addy.
I completely understand that Klout, Twitalyzer and other analytics may be useful in helping you find people who can help you meet your goals. Rock on. But can any algorithm REALLY capture a person? Really?
“Hi, I’m _______. My Klout score is _____.” This comes up so often in social media conversation, online and offline, that it makes me twitch. Is social media really just a giant pissing contest? Not for me. No thank you. And that is why I couldn’t care less if your Klout score is higher than mine.
Do you have strong values and ethics? What have you done to help lately? How good is your content? Do you have a personality?
I, personally, prefer to measure people by their behavior, to discern if they are influential or not by what they have accomplished online. More qualitative, more human, more social measures.
How about you?
Susan Spaight