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Why Klout's Social Influence Scores Are Nonsense

Posted by Soulskill on from the another-system-to-game dept.

jfruh writes "Klout is a new social media service that attempts to quantify how much 'influence' you have, based on your social media profile. Their metrics are bizarre — privacy blogger Dan Tynan has been rated as highly influential on the topic of cigars, despite having only smoked one, decades ago. Nevertheless, Klout scores have real-world consequences, with people deemed influential getting discounts on concert tickets or free access to airport VIP lounges (in hopes that they'll tweet about it, presumably)."

39 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. A product for a problem that does not exist by h2okies · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and will likely never will. From the last /. on this if people are hiring you based on your "klout" you should probably be looking elsewhere for a better managed place to work. If you are looking for free shit all the time then I guess a higher "Klout" score might actually be worth something to you...

    --
    Beware the Lollipop of Mediocrity, Lick it once and you suck forever.
    1. Re:A product for a problem that does not exist by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You could think of Klout as performing the valuable public service of identifying the sort of people who would take Klout seriously, sort of like those chemical attractant baits used on flypaper and similar insect traps.

    2. Re:A product for a problem that does not exist by crazyjj · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why can't we just stick to the system that has worked for decades? Judge a man based not on his Klout, but by his penis size or the value of his car.

      --
      What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
    3. Re:A product for a problem that does not exist by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 5, Funny

      I prefer this: http://klouchebag.com/

    4. Re:A product for a problem that does not exist by mozumder · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There's definitely a "nerd-centric" influence for klout. It really measures online activity more than real-world influence. A big problem with it is that it doesn't account for non-measurable factors, such as power and art direction. In the industry I'm in, fashion, art direction determines your overall influence . And its editors figure out who have the best art direction, since the public trusts their editing skills more than computer algorithms.

      And you don't even need to be on the internet to be taken seriously. Karl Lagerfeld doesn't use the web- he still sends "email" via fax machines. The top fashion magazines barely have usable websites, yet they'll always remain far more influential than any blogger ever will, because Klout can't actually measure influence, because, again, computers are never going to be able to replace human editors at that.

      Klout really is fundamentally doomed. Klout can only work as a paid service if they can hire paid & specialized editors that measure influence of each property, which is an expensive business plan.

      The bigger problem I see is that too many Venture Capitalists are trying to find cheap computer profits to problems only solvable by expensive human experts. Sorry Venture Capitalist, it's just not going to happen. Go back to making money the old-fashioned way, by earning it.

    5. Re:A product for a problem that does not exist by partyguerrilla · · Score: 4, Funny

      Perhaps they could build one for Aspergers-wannabes

      They have

    6. Re:A product for a problem that does not exist by hairyfish · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We're nearly the same age. When I was10 I had flared jeans and a tight shirt with rainbow colours, When I was 13 or 14 I bought some tapered jeans and a black t-shirt. By Uni I had traded these for baggy jeans and a white t-shirt, and just recently I bought some skinny jeans and t-shirt with some writing on it. I expect sometime in the next 10 years to probably get some baggy jeans again and maybe a new t-shirt. I think this is what they mean by fashion :)

  2. I bet my Klout score by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 2

    I bet my Klout score is near zero; my clout is not.
    No twitter, facebook, etc. accounts, and use pseudonyms in most places. But I do have a LinkedIn account under my real name.

    --
    Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    1. Re:I bet my Klout score by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2

      I'm British and I've never heard that. Checking on urban dictionary, apparently no one else has either...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:I bet my Klout score by Spad · · Score: 5, Funny

      No it isn't. You can't just make this stuff up, you know, there are British people on the internet now.

  3. XKCD! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    XKCD says it all!
    http://xkcd.com/1057/

    1. Re:XKCD! by Hotawa+Hawk-eye · · Score: 2

      John Scalzi said something similar a few months before that, though not quite as extreme.

  4. Never heard of Klout by Spy+Handler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and after it disappears as many dot-coms do, you won't have to hear about it again either.

    1. Re:Never heard of Klout by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2

      I hope it does. I hope all attempts to establish "gatekeepers of reputation" fail. Klout, Angie's List, LinkedIn, and to a lesser extent in this case, Facebook. All of them, dead.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    2. Re:Never heard of Klout by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      Unfortunately, that will leave us with the old guard: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax... And if you think that facebook is a screwjob run by sociopathic weasels...

    3. Re:Never heard of Klout by Spy+Handler · · Score: 3, Informative

      and the old guard is regulated by federal consumer protection laws... they have to remove your bad credit after 7 years and give you a free report every year, etc.

  5. Klouchebags! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    If I had a person stick their Klout score on their resume I'd beat them with a wiffle bat.

    Related: http://www.klouchebag.com/

    1. Re:Klouchebags! by MachDelta · · Score: 5, Funny

      I sincerely hope "wiffle" is how you spell "aluminum" in your nation or culture.

  6. Backward News. by SolitaryMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This "news" is kind of backwards. It would be news if it turned out that it *does* make any sort of sense.

    --
    May Peace Prevail On Earth
    1. Re:Backward News. by garcia · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There was a recent job posting for some marketing company (I forget the name; I'm sure if you do a Google search you'll find it) that wanted a Klout score above 35 to be hired.

      1. I have a 48 Klout score and while I work with marketing data analytics, I am not influential on any topics, at all.

      2. If someone needs to have a 35+ on Klout, that shows just how irrelevant this number is for a marketing gig.

      3. The fact that companies are interested in this number means someone is trying to make it relevant and thus the entire thing is scary as shit.

      --

      While Klout apparently believes I'm most influential in the "Twin Cities", "Food" and "Games" and one could make an argument for the first two, the third is just batshit crazy.

      Klout is meaningless and should be completely ignored.

    2. Re:Backward News. by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 2

      It looks like that company was Salesforce. Quite frankly, I'm not entirely surprised. Their HR department is completely clueless, and wings things on a regular basis.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
  7. Nah. by MrEricSir · · Score: 2

    No, I'd say their real strength is their ability to score how many spammers follow you on Twitter. If you frequently tweet keywords that attract spambot followers, you'll have a very high Klout score.

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    1. Re:Nah. by Urza9814 · · Score: 2

      Klout does quite a bit of spamming on their own...

      I was getting constant requests to add their Facebook app before I finally banned it...which is annoying, but not necessarily their doing I know. But the thing is, _even when you clicked no_, it still redirected you to their website! Only app I've ever seen do that. That alone was enough to convince me that the company is full of jerks and I want nothing to do with it. Of course, the whole concept didn't help them there....everything I've seen about the project (which is far more than I'd like to know...) leads me to believe it's created and run by a bunch of self-centered egotistical assholes.

  8. Call me old school by __aajgon4133 · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I don't really care what your Klout score is. THAC0 is what really matters.

    1. Re:Call me old school by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      D20 is the bane of mankind.

  9. Caste system. by wcrowe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Social warfare is getting to be bad enough. We don't need to further relegate people into different classes. Do we really want some sort of Hindu caste system? Klout needs to be Klobbered.

    --
    Proverbs 21:19
    1. Re:Caste system. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      Social warfare is getting to be bad enough. We don't need to further relegate people into different classes. Do we really want some sort of Hindu caste system? Klout needs to be Klobbered.

      Empirically speaking, it appears that we(in the aggregate) practically live for the chance to build absurd little social hierarchies, even when circumstances are such that the hierarchy won't significantly affect resource allocation... It's like we are just a few service packs away from being damn dirty apes or something.

    2. Re:Caste system. by firewrought · · Score: 2

      Empirically speaking, it appears that we practically live for the chance to build absurd little social hierarchies

      Pfft... spoken like one with a 7-digit user ID. ;-O

      --
      -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
    3. Re:Caste system. by hairyfish · · Score: 2

      We had a startup airline a few years back that was all business class from front to back of the plane. Every seat Business Class. The company didn't last long, and went bankrupt. It seems people didn't want to travel business class unless they had some cattle class schmucks on-board to look down their noses at.

  10. Re:Kout's real strength.. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2

    .. Is to judge one's ability to brown nose and game pointless metrics.

    Sounds a bit like Slashdot karma-whoring.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  11. Login with Twiiter or Facebook account, fuck you! by Nyder · · Score: 2

    title says it all.

    Any service that requires me to log in thru another source I will NOT use. It's bad enough i have a facebook account, but to actually use it, hell no. I hide from my relatives for a reason.

    --
    Be seeing you...
  12. My Klout score by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    OK I'll check it out.
    tappity tappity ENTER

    KLOUT "Sign in" with Twitter (don't have) or Facebook (don't have) ....and I'm over it.

    I'm also bothered by misspelling Kommon words for effekt.

  13. But it's fun! by JarekC · · Score: 5, Funny

    C'mon, Klout is fun! Exactly because its metrics are so bizarre, it's really fun to check out yours and your friends' score, and compare it with some well known people. At my workplace we do it like every couple of days, and its like watching Monty Python. You can't keep a straight face when for example a guy sitting in the next cubicle suddenly turns out to be - according to Klout - more influential then the company CEO.

  14. Re:Bizarre Metrics by hazah · · Score: 2

    And we all know, it's those damn pigments that are at fault here. Right? Is that your point?

  15. Do newmedia douchebags like it? by Pope · · Score: 2

    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/using-a-social-media-rating-to-help-people-not-judge-them/
    http://parislemon.com/post/29563509395/under-the-influence-of-klout
    http://uncrunched.com/2012/08/16/why-i-changed-my-mind-on-klout-and-invested/

    Yes? Then ignore and move on.

    --
    It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
  16. Klout is krap. by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 2

    Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have lower Klout scores than Justin Bieber. Until this summer, so did President Obama. And as far as I could tell, Steve Jobs never had Klout at all. And this is a metric that I'm supposed to take seriously? I think not.

    --
    Imagine all the people...
  17. privacy blogger Dan Tynan cigars by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Did anyone else read this and think it was just some sort of inside joke or coy insult to insinuate Tynan blows a lot of smoke up things?

  18. Negative klout? by psithurism · · Score: 2

    I never signed up for klout, but one time I facebook-statused about an app and a friend that I thought was going to buy it did not. My amazon reviews are usually rated less helpful that

    So, now I'm starting to wonder...do I have negative klout? Maybe people pay us for negative reviews and give us free samples of their competitors products?

  19. Re:Bizarre Metrics by yahwotqa · · Score: 2

    Whoosh, baby, whoosh!