Does Your Klout Score Fit Into Your Social Media Strategy?

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Last week, Klout made changes to the algorithm that they had been using to calculate scores. For anyone who is unfamiliar with Klout and their scores, basically, Klout is a company that attempts to measure “influence across the social web”. That’s a pretty tall order and there has always been a lot of skepticism to whether this can actually be done and if it is done, how accurate it is.

Can Klout Really Measure our Influence on Social Media?

Back in August, I wrote the post “Can Klout Really Measure our Influence on Social Media?” where I shared my strategy for participating in the Klout scoring “game” and I asked for your opinions. A lot of readers took the time to share their thoughts. At the time, I was scoring high as being influential on “American Idol” and Janet Callaway was scoring high in “lizards”.  Both of us had written one blog article on those topics. The articles gained popularity and hence we were then proclaimed as being influential in those topics. Since both of those topics are far from our areas of expertise, we shared a laugh over it and moved on.

As you’d expect, the comments on that post included multiple viewpoints. Some people took the stand that Klout is worthless and they chose to not participate. Others thought that there was potential for a tool like this. However they felt, people commented (making this one of my most popular posts yet) and the comment section does make interesting reading.

Should Klout Be Part of Your Social Media Strategy?

Back in August, my personal take on Klout was to incorporate it into my strategy for Twitter. My thinking was that since Twitter was already driving the majority of my referral traffic to my blog, why not just add giving “+Ks” into the mix. After all, it doesn’t take that much time and I could recognize other bloggers while building awareness of my own Twitter ID/brand at the same time. I also committed to making  a conscious effort to use the hashtags #socialmedia, #socialnetworks and #strategy in an attempt to control the topics that I was supposedly influential in.

The good news is that I have connected with several more bloggers on Twitter. (By “connecting”, I don’t mean just following them. We have taken the time to visit each others’ blogs and try to offer support in our own areas.) Additionally, my topics of influence on Klout now include social media, social media networks and social media strategy.

Okay, I’m sure several people are shrugging their shoulders and thinking to themselves, “So what?” At least in part, I agree. Who does care what my klout score is? I for one don’t care about the actual score. What I do care about is my new Twitter connections and the fact that I’m building awareness on Twitter which results in driving traffic to my blog which ultimately led to two new clients in the past month.

How Did the Algroithm Changes that Klout Made Affect You?

So what is going on with your scores? Do you know anyone who saw their Klout score go up? My score dropped about 20 points. (My best guess since I’m not totally sure what it was before the changes. Again, I don’t care what my actual score is.) What happened to your score or don’t you know or care?

What prompted me to write this article is the fact that a lot of people are upset over this. The backlash has even resulted in a Twitter movement resulting in the hashtag #OccupyKlout and someone has registered the @OccupyKlout name. Who’s benefitting from this though? Is there a chance that the company itself is behind this movement? It certainly is building brand awareness.

Are You Abandoning Klout or Sticking With It?

Before I turn this over to you, I want to share an article with you. “This Is Why I Disabled My Klout Account” by Robert Dempsey offers insight into what has been going on behind  the scenes. Robert’s “Exhibit A” is an email from Klout to someone who questioned the drop in their score and his “Exhibit B” is a comment that the Marketing Manager of Klout left on a blog post. Robert’s conclusions are that we are being penalized if the people that we’re interacting with aren’t top influencers. (Please read Robert’s post yourself since I’m paraphrasing at best.)

Another reason for reading Robert’s article is that he goes on to outline the steps to opt out of Klout and asks us to join him. Personally, I’m going to hang in there a bit longer but I may decide to join him. For now, I’m going to continue giving +Ks to bloggers who I feel are doing a good job by adding value. Some of them are top influencers according to Klout and some aren’t. I don’t really care. I am also going to be sure to not credit @klout in my tweets. Since they don’t feel that I’m influential, they shouldn’t miss them.

What’s your take? Did your score rise or fall? Do you have a strategy for using Klout? Are you joining the movement against them or opting out? What are your real feelings about Klout? Over to you . . .

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Author: Sherryl Perry

Welcome! If you're looking for help building an Internet presence that fits your needs and works for you, you're in the right place. I blog common sense articles about WordPress, social media and SEO. My goal is to help small business owners and entrepreneurs understand their core business. Together, we can develop and implement business strategies that make sense to you.

166 thoughts on “Does Your Klout Score Fit Into Your Social Media Strategy?”

  1. Sherryl Perry, you rock…no scribing from the hips with you. A treat to read… and you helped bring laughter to my New England weathering gray day.
    `AdQk
    Adam Quinn Keefe

    1. Hi Adam,
      Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed my post. I’m sitting here in MA enjoying the gray New England day too. I quickly reread my post to remind myself what I wrote. I had forgotten about the American Idol and lizard topics. I honestly don’t know what topics are listed for me now. My strategy for Klout remains the same. I respond to +Ks, ignore their “perks” and generally ignore it. Are you on Klout?
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Do You Use Google Webmaster Tools Bing or Both?My Profile

      1. Sherryl, ’tis a dreary day here, along shaft 9 of the Quabbin Aqueduct as well. Though pleased with the needed rain and coolness it provides…

        The other day I happened to take notice that in fact I do indeed have a K-Factualator Intelligence account – KFI sounds trendy, does is not? Something forgotten, for a project request I adhered to, possibly back when Hector was a pup and not defined as a ‘Potentially Unwanted Program’.

        So indeed, I am one of the 100,000,000 they (KFI) inimitably tote over… my findings; “I’m one heck of an important, influential, and impressive kinda guy”, … so there ya go. Not sure why I am unable to convince any reputable lending institution, nor prospective employer, nor politician of this unKloutable truth. I may attempt to purchase much needed groceries later today utilizing my ‘Klout’; just to see what I already know.

        `AdQk

          1. Later, that very same day: The grocer showed my Klout Factualator Intelligence (*KFI) to the door as Federal Reserve Notes (**FRN) prevailed with surprisingly similar results at the local farm stand.
            `AdQk

            *negative on the trendy
            **still trendy after all these years

    1. Hi Todd,
      My Klout score fluctuates a few points either way too and I don’t pay it much mind either. If it weren’t for notifications that someone has given me a +K, I wouldn’t even check in. I do try to reciprocate +K’s if I believe the person brings value to a topic.

      Thanks for taking the time to weigh in on the conversation.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Do You Use Google Webmaster Tools Bing or Both?My Profile

  3. Yeah, I have read your other article and this one is a great follow up. So how do you plan to keep your “points” up on Klout? Especially with the recent algorithm update; it is quite hard to follow how things will be going through in the social media world.

    1. Hi John,
      After Klout “adjusted” my score downward by 20 points, I started to question whether or not I should pay attention to it. I had been checking it daily, reciprocating +Ks (if I thought the blogger was worthy) and tweeting about it. I even had created a page in one of my tracking spreadsheets to monitor what I was doing. I wasn’t the only one who started to question the time they were spending. Many of the bloggers who I had been supporting with +Ks stopped and I did too. You know what happened? My Klout score has been slowly inching up again. It turns out that what I’m doing on other social networking sites and my other online interactions are having a positive affect. So, I’m glad they dropped my score. It’s saving me time!
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Commenting On Blogs – What Strategy Works for You?My Profile

  4. Klout is always measured by your ability to drive and the call to action. You can compare your score to others. Amplification, target audience, and over all impact is the main component of your klout score.

  5. I asked someone in the blog world that I know what it all meant and why it mattered and really it was a bit about ego and “offers”. Klout score is great but it is bragging rights more than anything. If Google or others begin to use it, then it all changes but until then, happy to have it but I can’t say it really means much to me.

  7. Sherryl, aloha. Congratulations on your great post and the ensuing conversation. Yes, my score feel from a 74 to a 62. While that is not the “end of the world” it did cause me to look at what was happening and how I was looking at things.

    Some people said “well maybe their algorithm was wrong before and now it’s right.” While that might sound like a good argument, if that were the case, Klout was providing a lot of misinformation to people and they were way off on their “measurement.” A 1-3 point correction is understandable/acceptable, however, drops of 19+ points–especially of true social media influencers, means that something is seriously wrong with the formula.

    After the adjustment, I waited and watched to see how I felt about what was happening. And then, this past week, I logged in to Klout for the first time since the adjustment for the sole purpose of deleting my account. So I am now among the “deleted” and i absolutely love it.

    In hindsight, Sherryl, I believe Klout did us a big favor by causing us to take a serious look at what we were doing and how we were looking at others. Sherryl, I can see a definite difference in engagement on twitter because of the adjustment. Now that I have no profile, I am sure I will notice even more of a difference in the engagement factor.

    Well done, Sherryl. Aloha. Janet

    1. Janet, I had no idea that you were deleting your Klout account. What’s the “definite difference in engagement on twitter” that you noticed?

      The percentage of referral traffic that I’ve been receiving from Twitter has been dropping for the last few months but I attributed that in part to the fact that my referral traffic from other sources (like BizSugar.com) has been rapidly growing. I have no idea if the actual numbers of referrals from Twitter has dropped or just the percentage. (I need to make the time to really analyze this.)

      As for the adjustment in their algorithm, it was not unexpected. I thought some of the scores were inflated (not mine of course 🙂 ) partly because some of them didn’t leave much room for growth. I would not be surprised if we see another change relatively soon.

      Please keep us posted when you’ve had a chance to see if leaving Klout had any noticeable affect on any part of your social media strategy. Thanks! (I’ll be checking out your scoop.it soon.)
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Can You Do if Restoring Your WordPress Backup Doesn’t Work?My Profile

      1. Sherryl, aloha. Much as l liked thinking that people were tweeting and engaging with me because I am so charming, alas and alack, apparently that is not the case. When my score was 74 that was attractive to people and encouraged them to engage with me because I was an “influencer” and if I engaged back that might benefit them (not saying since I am not in charge of the algorithm, however, that was popular belief).

        Because I did in fact respond to tweets, I believe certain people put me on lists for the sole purpose of tweeting me for the engagement factor. Not for my brilliant responses, rather for the sole purpose of a response.

        When my score dropped, not as many new people were seeking me out or attempting to engage with me. Also, people who were working on upping their Klout scores, tapered off. Prior to the adjustments, I used to receive lots of “how are you today” type tweets from people who were not really friends/regulars. Because of the question, I responded. Now, the only people who send me those types of tweet questions are people who “care”–the usual suspects.

        After Klout made the adjustment, I stopped giving +Ks because I was not logging into Klout. That “upset” some people. In fact, the +K issue played a part in deciding to stop. Some people kept giving me +Ks and it “bothered” me not to reciprocate. Even though I sent notes, #YouMatters, etc. I know they wanted the +Ks. Since I did not want to have to keep explaining why I was not returning +Ks, it was easier to Opt Out.

        Sherryl, deleting my account was not a knee jerk reaction. It was 3 weeks before I deleted it and I watched how Klout handled it. As time went on and I discovered the Privacy issues, that was another reason for me to rethink if I wanted to continue to promote Klout.

        If I had a soapbox, I could continue, however, I think you get the idea. Aloha. Janet

        1. Janet, Anyone who knows you realizes that you do not make knee jerk reaction decisions. On the contrary, I think your input is extremely valuable and I’m certainly considering deleting my account too.

          I did not experience the “how are you today” tweets that you encountered but my score was never has high as yours. More important than that my “reach” is far lesser than yours. I just looked on Twitter and you have 5,861 followers compared to my 2,225. That alone has to have an impact on the number of people who wanted your attention on Klout.

          I gave you +Ks but you and I know each other and have been interacting for a long time. I would feel used if people were suddenly +K’ing me and I didn’t know them. Actually, I think that only happened to me once. A company from India who I had never interacted with online suddenly +K’d me 4 or 5 times. (I did not reciprocate and they went away.)

          Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. Although I haven’t deleted my account as of yet, the more I read articles from bloggers like Pam Moore, Robert Dempsey and now your view, the more I think it’s just a matter of time before I’ll delete mine too. I’m just hanging in there a little longer to see what happens.

    2. I agree with you Janet, these things should be consider while working on these kind of topics.

  8. Hi Sherryl.

    Stopping in with an update! Back to the topic of how whacky Klout scores are, mine just hit 50 and I have no idea why. The last few days I have been traveling and for two days before that I was on a monster deadline. I logged into Klout this morning expecting my score to have fallen dramatically as a result of being too busy to do most of my online networking checklist items. And instead of dropping, my score had bounced up 8 points. I am truly mystified.

    These are the only things I can think of that I’ve done over the last four or five days of minimal activities:
    1. On LinkedIn, I have retweeted some of connection’s updates from my feed and then followed them over to Twitter and become a follower there if I wasn’t already.
    2. I have used Justunfollow to eliminate some of the non-followers I have been following on Twitter, especially if they have infrequent activity, and I have focused on following more of the high quality followers who are following me.
    3. I’ve commented on various blogs. (I don’t even know of Klout sees this activity.)
    4. I got involved in one pretty intensive conversation in my niche (content marketing) in a LinkedIn group.
    5. I posted more frequently on my blog, using content curation, vs. posting original content, because I just didn’t have time.
    6. Oh yes, and I did get involved in one ongoing conversation from my personal Facebook account. A friend of mine put a picture of a woodworking project up on Facebook and I got into a guessing game that took three days. The interactions were one to three word posts.

    Okay, that sounds like kind of a lot now that I put it into a list. But I was not doing the K+ activity and focused interaction on Twitter that I had been doing. I had to pare down to some of the things I could do in ten to fifteen minutes max.

    Do you see anything useful or helpful here that can benefit others? I can’t make sense of it!

    –Jayna
    Jayna Locke recently posted..4 Facebook Fan Page Tips for Business – From webbROIMy Profile

    1. Jayna,
      Thanks for sharing this. It’s very interesting. I recently unfollowed quite a few inanctive and non-followers on Twitter and today, Klout is telling me that my “True Reach decreased by 126”. – That can’t be good.

      I rarely tweet from LinkedIn. That’s something I’ll have to try. It’s a good idea. I think I’ll wait a couple of days until I test what (if anything) happens by +K’ing people who I follow who have scores above 60.

      This is a great discussion!
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Will CommentLuv Premium Make Your Blogging Life Easier?My Profile

  10. Hi Sherryl, Yes I have been doing everything that you mentioned. I even have been sending out invites to Klout when Klout asks me to. I share tweets from Klout through my lists and others lists. I can’t figure it out either and I think that is why I am not sure if the ‘Klout score’ is something I should really spend any more time on. As we keep moving through our ‘social’ circles (I agree, i don’t depend on Google+ circles to create connections) I believe we are creating our own influence and don’t necessaricly need a score to tell folks that…. does that make sense? 🙂

    1. Lynn,
      You’re doing way more than I am. I have never invited anyone to Klout I don’t use lists. I started one but don’t maintain it. Maybe I should be using lists but I honestly don’t understand the benefits of them. (I’d love to hear everyone’s opinion on using lists!)

      I can’t imagine what’s going on with your score but since you’re so well connected it may be worth sticking around a little longer. I spend an average of 15 minutes a day on Klout. So, to me, that’s a small investment especially because it’s also helping me to build brand awareness on Twitter.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Can Someone Tell What Your Website/Blog Is About In 3 Seconds?My Profile

      1. I created a list on Klout after trying to find some info that clearly explained what the purpose was and what could be done with them. I created one because I figured I must have missed something and actually doing it would reveal the mystery. Not so. Perfectly useless.

        It seems that being a Twitter-focused app, they borrowed the list idea and had no idea what to do with it beyond that. From limiting it to 10 people (when you might have 1,000s of followers?) to the list function not having any way to interact with the listees … it’s a real non-feature.

        Sherryl and Lynn, +Ks are it. 🙂
        Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Graphic Proof: JetPack Stats From WordPress.com Hijacks Your Commenting SystemMy Profile

        1. Thanks Vernessa. I’m glad to learn that I’m not missing out on an important feature. Klout limits their list to 10 people? Senseless! What I did notice about lists is that people who I don’t know were adding me to lists not the people who I normally interact with. I imagine they thought that was a way to connect with me. Then why wouldn’t they just +K me in hopes that I +K’d them back. It’s unfortunate that Klout has turned into a bit of game.

          Are you considering deleting your Klout account Vernessa? Lynn? Keith? Are you planning on staying. (Actually, I’d like to hear that answer from everyone who is reading this.) I have this nagging feeling that once the dust settles, that Klout could get back on track but until they do something about the accounts that they created for minors, I’m getting more and more uncomfortable with having an account there.
          Sherryl Perry recently posted..Could Your Business Survive if Something Happened to You?My Profile

          1. I’m of the mind to leave it for the time being. The arguments about why to delete your account are compelling (I’ve read most of them), however, I’d like to see if (how) they mend their ways.

            Something like Kred could knock them out of the water, but with the infrastructure they’ve built — if they come to their senses and put some real brain power behind what they started, they just might come up with something useful to small businesses like ours.

            Did I answer your question? LOL I won’t delete the account just yet. 🙂
            Vernessa Taylor recently posted..My U.S.P. – A Technologist’s Marriage VowsMy Profile

  11. Sherryl I apreciate you sharing this information on Klout. I was also affected by the recent changes and my score dropped 20 points as well. Over the past 30 days it continues to drop even though I am still as active if not more with social media and engaging with my fans, followers and clients.

    I recently met you through another wonderful Twitter friend, actually an awesome entrepreneur that we both know. I don’t see how Klout has increased my visibility. However, I do enjoy giving the +K’s to folks because i do feel those should be accounted for as it is real influence.

    I did see and read Robert’s article and I noticed that I recd a msg from Klout that if I engaged more with ‘top influencers like Lady GaGa and another popular tweeter (can’t remember the name they referred to)” …. the point is, why would I engage with Lady Gaga for my business purpose, profession. That was last week when I got this message so I am seriously considering leaving Klout.

    But as you say, you want to hang in there. And maybe I will too in hopes that Klout might see all these comments and concerns if they truly want to be taken seriously.

    1. Hi Lynn,
      Thanks so much for taking the time to come over here and join the conversation. The value of the comments that are being left here are amazing.

      I remember meeting you through another Twitter friend too. To me, that’s what all of this social media is about. We form valuable relationships and then expand our spheres of influence (I like that better than Google+ circles) to include their friends and connections.

      I’m not surprised that your score dropped because it seems that most of the people I interact with experienced the same thing. I am surprised that it’s continuing to drop. Do you tweet when you give someone a +K and if you do, do you use hashtags? I’m wondering if that makes a difference. Another thought is are you checking your Klout notifications to see who +K’d you and reciprocating? I’m guessing that you are, I’m just trying to figure out if there’s more behind this algorithm than simply engaging with influencers like Lady Gaga. (I sure hope so.)
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Should CommentLuv Premium be Part of Your Social Media Strategy?My Profile

  12. I looked at my Klout today and it dropped again. Mine is dropping more than rising. I might leave all together because its a damned if I do, damned if I don’t situation with Klout. Its almost like they are picking who they want to raise their number and who they don’t. Yes, its only numbers there and doesn’t really say who you really are. Oh well. Nikki shrugs shoulders and moves on.

    I am going to try to figure out PeerIndex.

    1. That’s too bad Nikki. My score rose a couple of points (after taking the big hit) and is now holding steady. I have gone back to doing what I was doing before the change. I’m giving +Ks to people who I am interacting with on Twitter. The majority of these people have scores about the same as I do or lower. I don’t see any sense in +K’ing people who don’t know who I am. (I did +K Reuters because I’ve been tweeting the news a lot lately and that gets RT’d a lot too. So, as an experiment of sorts, I +K’d them.) I wonder if tweeting when I give someone a +K is measured into the equation. As Vernessa mentioned above, both of us use hashtags in our +K tweets to help the person we are recognizing.

  13. Nikki, All I could find on that paper was news about Facebook. I had followed the link that Klout posted about the changes where they adamantly proclaimed that most of us would see our scores either drop slightly or rise. All I know is that most of the people that I’m connected with experienced a rather dramatic drop in our scores.
    Sherryl Perry recently posted..3 Steps to Protect Your WordPress Blog from HackersMy Profile

  14. What a dynamite read, Sherryl! And the comments are awesome.

    Thanks for asking …

    My score dropped 5 points with the spiffy new algorithm. Almost feels like being cut off at the knees or getting spanked for giving kudos to folks who have less influence than you.

    IMHO — “influence” is “subjective”.

    There’s something rotten in Denmark.

    Here’s the rock bottom line for me …

    I’ll take “clout” over “Klout” ANY DAY OF THE WEEK! 🙂
    Melanie Kissell recently posted..3 Simple Keys to a Strategic Plan that Rocks!My Profile

    1. Thanks for taking the time to come over and “chime” in Melanie. The comments have been awesome.

      I would have been thrilled to have only dropped 5 points but I probably wouldn’t have been motivated to write this post then. I’ve honestly never thought that social influence can truly be measured – especially the way Klout has attempted. As Catarina pointed out, teenagers on Facebook can have higher scores than most of us.

      I agree with the “clout” over “Klout”!
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Should CommentLuv Premium be Part of Your Social Media Strategy?My Profile

  15. What is the URL for Spout. I typed it into Google and got all kinds of Sprout and I consider myself a great researcher and finder.

  16. I’ve read violent reactions as well as good article pertaining to Klout sudden changes and so on.My Klout score went back to the red zone, yes, it’s irritating but I’ve learn that it’s not important anymore. I’m more focusing more oh how to build connections and relationship on my social media accounts to get better. Well, the score? Good if it goes higher, okay if nothing happens.

  17. I don’t pay much attention to my score, but it is a good way to measure progress. I use apps that graph engagement and influence instead, like Sprout.

      1. I honestly wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re managing multiple accounts. There’s a neat feature that allows you to export graphs, and it shows your engagement/influence progress along with your follower demographics with quick and simple graphs. Also, it gives good suggestions on who to follow and whom to unfollow.
        Followerwonk is a great free service to check out.

  18. I’ve basically just checked out of Klout after reading some convincing articles and not quite feeling the love for it, which I’ve never felt. However, they either removed the links for you to delete your account or I just couldn’t find them so I eliminated every way they were tracking me and I’m moving on with life. I think some people have put way more credence into it than it deserves.
    Mitch Mitchell recently posted..So Much For My “Klout”My Profile

          1. Ohhh, that’s bad! You’re right, they’re doing more harm than good. Just adds fuel to the fire, and while negative publicity can be better than no publicity at all, in this case, people can opt-out — to never return.

            Mitch, sorry about that. I didn’t realize they’d removed the link entirely.
            Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistant Comment SpamMy Profile

        2. Hi Mitch,

          Ok, back again. Just read Mr. Miller’s article (linked to from your site) and his instructions work.

          The deleted function is now buried at the very end of the “privacy” policy which you can only access through a link at the bottom of your “profile settings” page, or by clicking on the footer link “privacy” under “Developers.”

          I tried this and you do reach the Privacy page. http://www.klout.com/corp/privacy

          Further, at the bottom of the Privacy page is this sentence:

          “If are not a Klout user and wish to opt out of Klout, please click here. If you have a Klout account, please sign in before following this link in order to delete your account.”

          “click here” in that sentence goes to http://www.klout.com/corp/optout

          At the bottom of THAT opt-out page, you’ll have to click on “Continue opting-out” to finish the process.

          I’ll leave this on your site, too, but I know it will go into your spam folder because of the links. Do rescue it! 🙂

          Sherryl, I figure others might want to know how to get to this. 🙂
          Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistant Comment SpamMy Profile

  19. @Vanessaa – began following you on Twitter – I like your thoughts. @Sherry, this blog has turned in some interesting view points for everyone. I especially like the tweaking part, as you and Vanessa have mentioned. I have to read that again when I get home and learn to do that as well.

    I do hope 2012 is the year of the blogger. This 9-5 is not my cup of tea and I love tea.
    Nikki recently posted..Easier Invitations Mean More Followers and Blog ContributorsMy Profile

    1. Hey Nikki,

      Thanks! Tweaking your Klout messages is not so hard. You could do a search for Sherryl’s Twitter timeline (@KeepUpWeb) to see how she personalizes it a bit. And don’t forget to use hashtags (#tagname) so Klout associates the tag with the person your Klouting. 🙂
      Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistant Comment SpamMy Profile

  20. After reading a few responses here, I rejoined Klout, because as one person said, it is ridiculous to delete a Klout account because numbers went down. I just won’t be too much stock in the numbers.

  21. Hello Sherryl.
    I have to say that untill I read your post, I had not even heard of Klout. Even so, I thought that I would have my say.
    I think that it’s easy to get too concerned over scores and forget that it’s traffic that counts.There are some things that I do that deliver good traffic, there are far more that only deliver a little. All of those little bits of traffic add up to quite a lot. Of course I concentrate most of my effort on the things that deliver the most targeted traffic but you should continue to spread yout net far and wide.
    Getting angry and giving up because your score went down is just plain bad for business. When you drop a place on Google, you do something about it.
    Anyway, I guess I should go and see what Klout is all about before I make a fool of myself, talking about things that I have no knowledge of.
    Another very interesting post though. than-you.
    Steve recently posted..Blogging For Good Quality LinksMy Profile

    1. Thanks Steve. I agree with you that giving up on Klout because your score went down doesn’t make sense. Some of the concerns expressed by people like Robert Dempsey do concern me. He’s questioning it more on a social consciousness level. Other bloggers are raising concerns that our scores could be taken seriously in the future and actually hurt us. Since teenagers on Facebook with lots of “friends” can rank much higher than bloggers who are truly “influential”, I certainly understand these concerns. I continue to participate on Klout but I’m also looking at other sites more seriously as well. Good luck with it if you do join.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Can You Do if Restoring Your WordPress Backup Doesn’t Work?My Profile

  22. Hi Sherryl,

    I stopped back in to see what is happening with comments on your blog post. Did you have any idea it would create such an on-going discussion?

    I have news to report. One day recently my Klout score bumped up very suddenly from the languishing and very boring 39 up to 42. I did three specific things differently:
    1. I made sure I logged into Klout every day and used all my K+’s allowed for that session.
    2. I focused my K+’s on people with higher scores than me in the topic areas where I am building clout (with a c!)
    3. I attended a webinar whose moderators requested that we tweet a particular hashtag. Throughout the webinar I rapidly tweeted take-aways along with the hashtag, and also retweeted a bunch of other participants’ tweets.

    What was also interesting was that after this little flurry, Klout opened up three or four new topics in which I appear to have influence in addition to bumping me up three points.

    I’m still not “advocating” Klout. But I personally find it intellectually interesting and I just really have a curiosity about whether you can change your habits in a targeted way and thereby improve your score – if it means something to you to do so. Whether you want to play the game, and you feel that improving your score has merit, is up to you.

    I’m still hanging in there for the time being. Since my portfolio and credibility in the content marketing field are still on the up-swing, I personally feel I can’t shrug off something that might be a consideration in the eyes of a potential client or referral partner. Hopefully I’m not selling my soul to the devil!

    –Jayna
    Jayna Locke recently posted..From Blog to eBook Part 3: eBook PublishingMy Profile

    1. Hi Jayna,
      Thank you so much for coming back and giving us an update on your strategy for Klout. (I had no idea that this article would generate so much discussion. I knew it was a hot topic but it’s definitely the participation and great comments that are driving this.)

      A jump from 39 to 42 is significant. After Klout decided I was influential in MLM (I have never addressed the topic), I started taking hashtags seriously. I now have topics available to me that are in line with what I blog about. So, I will definitely incorporate your strategy to tweet takeaways from webinars. I can see how that would be very effective.

      I think your outlook on Klout is very healthy. (Possibly because I agree with it.) I’m not “advocating” Klout either but I do have concerns that ignoring it could possibly damage our credibility in the future. I too don’t want to sell my soul to the devil but I don’t believe the verdict is in yet on what the implications are going to be for having a Klout score. I also have hopes that eventually the algorithms will be adjusted again to weed them out people who have built high scores through manipulation.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Can You Do if Restoring Your WordPress Backup Doesn’t Work?My Profile

  23. I just can’t the hang of Klout, but I’m going to keep trying. I’ve notice my number has gone down a little.

  24. I just cancelled my Klout account because of the article the person posted; but mainly because my Klout keeps going down when I have changed anything I did before that got my klout score high. But whatever. Going to try the PeerIndex and see how that goes. I use these more to gauge myself and see where I need to improve.

    1. I just read the article that Dennis posted and I haven’t deleted my account yet but I most likely will. For now, I’ll put a moratorium on +Ks. I’ve been meaning to check out PeerIndex. I’ve been told that it’s especially valuable to international bloggers. I know Catarina Alexon just created her profile there. I’m interested in hearing what everyone has to say about it.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Should CommentLuv Premium be Part of Your Social Media Strategy?My Profile

    2. This is an ongoing conversation in many circles: New service starts up, is totally free, looks for angel investors, sells or becomes pay-to-play model.

      Frankly, I don’t have any problem with this motivation or model. THIS is the essence of small business. What we should take note of is how do we create, build, fund, and provide a few jobs ourselves?
      Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Who Helps You Map Your Path, Grow Your Business?My Profile

      1. Great question Vernessa! How do we create a business that we can build, grow and create jobs ourselves? It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and worked on a long term strategy for my business ideas. Personally, I’ve been stuck in the trenches of to-do lists and self imposed deadlines. Every time a company like Klout starts doing well, it creates a multitude of opportunities. Just look at open source projects like WordPress and stop to think of how many successful companies have been built to meet needs created by the product. There are opportunities to be had. Thanks for the (much needed) reminder.
        Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Can You Do if Restoring Your WordPress Backup Doesn’t Work?My Profile

        1. Sherryl, these kinds of discussions get me excited. (I’m not excitable, in the least!) Like you, creating a longer-term strategy is on my mind.

          I’ve been saying “2012 is the year of customer referrals” but I also believe it is the year that business blog owners — who have spent the previous few years crafting an online strategy — should come to the roundtable, conference table, kitchen table and come up with some of these business-building products. (My English teach would have a conniption over that sentence!)

          Meet me at South Station! LOL
          Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistant Comment SpamMy Profile

            1. You like that, eh? LOL The beautiful thing about language, you can mix and match. (The Northern-born, the partially Southern-bred, and now the girl-living-in-the-mountains.)
              Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistant Comment SpamMy Profile

                1. Keith, I really say “mountain girl” a little tongue-in-cheek. In the spirit of fun (more poking fun at myself), it’s ok, but it could be considered a bit disrespectful to the culture of the locals. Ah, language!
                  Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistant Comment SpamMy Profile

  26. Klout, as a company that measures influence on the web, is like any other similar program, relatively easy to influence. Close to a point where the results don’t matter anymore because you can’t trust them.
    That means i don’t waste my time with it for some time now.

    1. Claire,
      I agree. There’s always been the opportunity to play games and leverage your Klout score. For now, I’m moving on. I’ll still reciprocate +Ks but I’m waiting to see what (if any) action Klout takes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t adjust their algorithms again. There are so many bloggers upset over this.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Can Anyone Really Follow 131,000 People on Twitter?My Profile

  27. I checked my Klout today and it went down another point and I’m not sure why. Now I’m 47.

    @Sherryl, I might jump ship too, because if people are looking at my Klout, its basically lying to them. I’m the bomb, but Klout is telling a different story. : D

    1. You’re “the bomb”. I love that! 🙂 I keep expecting Klout to react to the outrage. So, I’m using it less but I’m not opting out quite yet.

      A few bloggers I know are suggesting PeerIndex and I intend to look at that. To be perfectly honest, I ran into a glitch this week with my site and I fell way behind. I don’t have any extra time to spend on Klout or Klout alternatives. I still haven’t written a post this week!

  28. I already said goodbye to Klout.. Already using something else, an I forgot what it’s called..

    1. Keith, My WordPress theme “broke” Saturday afternoon around 3:30. Neither restoring my SQL database or my entire site fixed the issue. For a short time, I turned on a generic theme because with my theme, my blog was illegible. Yesterday, I tracked down the fix to a little-known conflict between my Thesis theme and the W3 Total Cache plugin. By 7:30 pm last night, my site was back. If you’re still not seeing my blog the way you expect, would you please try clearing your cache and refreshing your screen? Thanks for letting me know! I really appreciate when people tell me that something is awry here.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Can Anyone Really Follow 131,000 People on Twitter?My Profile

        1. Hi Keith,
          I don’t even want to hear the word “cache” any more. 🙂 I’m sure there are still people out there who think my site is still not displaying correctly. I’m not using any caching plugin right now and I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Actually, a couple of people on the support forum (where I found the solution to my problem) have suggested that caching problems can cause more problems than they’re worth and that smaller sites don’t really need them at all. So, for now, I’m going to wait until I can do a little more research. Do you use a caching plug-in? I’d be interested in hearing from other bloggers what they’re using or if they’re not using a caching plugin at all.
          Sherryl Perry recently posted..Can Anyone Really Follow 131,000 People on Twitter?My Profile

  30. Hi Sherryl,
    At this time, if one wants to build a Twitter community, one’s Klout score will diminish. I only know this from recent experience as I too am connecting with more newbies on Twitter. Hey, I was newbie once and Klout is just silly to penalize for lower ranked connections. If they were smart they’d give “points” for all connections – but the higher ranked connections would be worth more. I have a couple A list blogger friends who ignored or laughed at Klout from day one. It seems Klout is experiencing a self-fulfilling prophecy.

    1. I agree with you completely Catherine. I think it’s ridiculous to penalize interaction with lower ranked connections. Klout is flawed and it’s almost scary how it’s becoming a system that can be flawed. Having said that, as long as I really don’t care what my Klout score is (and I don’t), it is a quick and easy tool that I’ve been able to use along with my daily Twitter strategy. At some point, I may be convinced that there are enough reasons to boycott the firm that I will opt out but for now at least, I’ll spend a few minutes a day +K’ing.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Can Klout Really Measure our Influence on Social Media?My Profile

  31. Really say that running a weblog is fundamental but really, I have a difficult time writing {I really don’t concur with them as a firm, and it would be hypocritical of me to stick with them at any stage as I’ve been quite manifeste about how I feel. Having said that I can understand your causes for sticking with it. It is an personal choice. I’m interested to see what another website – Kred – has coming up. It measures more factors than Klout and is targeted much more on the analytics for the conclude user.

  33. T Keith: I K+ (looks like chemical sign potassium to me, but I digress) someone last week and informed them I did, but I have not received a K+ back. Which I find funny, because the person stated in their tweet they would K+ back to anyone that K+ them.

    I haven’t checked my score in a while. But now I just might.

    1. Hi Nikki
      Following you now.
      Have you been over to Klout and checked if they have given you a +K?
      Not everyone tweets when they give one.
      Look in your topics section on Klout.

    2. Nikki, Do you have a blog of your own? I’ve been following your links and all I can find is your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts plus your paper.li “The Solstice”. Thanks.

    1. “but merely for test and measurement…”
      I’ve been messing about to see what effect various things have on your score.

      Yesterday I gave +k’s to people with high scores.
      Be interesting to see what effect that has on my own score.
      Keith Davis recently posted..The Tyranny of the Or…My Profile

        1. I gave 10 / 15 +K’s to people with scores of high 50’s up to high 70’s and my score did go up, but not as much as I thought it might.

          The truth is that the bloggers that I really know and should be giving +K’s to have lowish scores!

          I’ll stick with this high scoring for a few days before I make a decision.
          Keith Davis recently posted..The Tyranny of the Or…My Profile

          1. Keith,
            Did you make a decision about giving +K’s to people with high scores? I’ve been mixing a few in lately but I’m with you as far as wanting to give +K’s to the people who need them.

            1. Sherryl
              I’m still giving +K’s to those with high scores (60 to 80!) and I’m following a few high profile celebs with huge numbers of followers, even though they will never follow me back.

              My score has gone up to 43, which is pretty low, but the only social thing I do is twitter so it’s actually not bad.

              I’ve still not found the magic bullet, but I’ll keep messing about.

              Guess if Klout told us the secret, we would all just do it!

              1. “Guess if Klout told us the secret, we would all just do it!”

                Good point, Keith. But then why would Klout want to make things easy for us?

                Seems to me they rather enjoy muddying the waters and keeping us under a shroud of mystery. Have a big hunch there’s an “intention” (or maybe I should say ulterior motive) attached to every move they make.

                I guess I’m one of the lucky ducks whose score didn’t drop all that much. And to be honest, I haven’t been very active over there at all. Go figure.
                Melanie Kissell recently posted..Virtual Event Etiquette: 7 Tips for Webcast SuccessMy Profile

                1. Mel
                  “I guess I’m one of the lucky ducks whose score didn’t drop all that much”
                  Quack, quack!

                  Looks as though Klout are driving us all quakers.
                  Sorry Mel, it’s late in the Uk.

              2. I’m not showing any movement in my score at all. I guess I should be happy it’s not dropping any more.

                I’m going to try giving +Ks to people with higher scores to see what happens. I’ll pick people that genuinely do influence me in the topics that I’m trying to score high in and I’ll be sure to tweet it along with hashtags.

                1. Never a need to apologize, Keith — I love you just the way you are (even when the hour is late in the UK). 🙂

                  Well, I’ve made an executive decision, Sherryl …

                  I’ve done SO much reading about Klout today, it’s a wonder I can see straight! And after reading Pam Moore’s article and hearing what professionals like Janet Calloway had to say …

                  I’ve opted out of Klout.

                  If they ever get their act together, I may sign on again. Sorry to say, but right now they haven’t earned my trust.
                  Melanie Kissell recently posted..Stressed Out Trying To Find Essential Biz-Building Tools You Need Online?My Profile

  35. Hi Sherryl,

    I enjoyed reading your post, and all the comments too.

    My experience with Klout has been weird. Several months ago I was invited to join a group on Facebook called Kickin It With Klout (KIWK for short). We’re #teamkickin and #KIWK on Twitter and we have several Klout groups too. There’s a complete outlined strategy for daily activities to improve your Klout score. The leader of the group is awesome. She really wants to help people get a better score, because it’s really about succeeding at the social activities that get your there.

    I’ll admit to being a bit haphazard in my efforts to follow the scheduled regimen. While I love the social engagement and what I’ve learned along the way in terms of best practices, at the end of the day my Klout score is not going to pay my bills. I must serve my clients first. So I try to keep it all in perspective.

    Here’s the funny part, though. If I do whatever I feel like doing and connect with whoever I want to connect with, I’m a 39. If I do the scheduled activities and interact by the book, I am a 39. When the big switcheroo happened with Klout’s algorithms, I had just bumped up to 41 by really really trying. And with the algorithm change I went back to 39. I got cranky and got really active and tweeted and connected and K-plussed until I had to work late to catch up…. and I held steady at 39.

    I may be wrong, but my hunch is that Klout will fade into the sunset like MySpace. People need incentives to be involved in something. If you saw the direct measurable results of your activities, that would be one thing. But instead their system has just provided a huge disincentive to those who cared. Unfortunately, I’m now kind of addicted to checking it!

    Thank you for your thought provoking post.
    Jayna Locke recently posted..Comment on From Blog to eBook Part 1: How to Write an eBook by Blogging by JaynaMy Profile

    1. Hi Jayna,
      Thanks so much for sharing your experience with the Facebook Kickin It With Klout group. Someone did make me a member of that group but I was quickly getting overwhelmed by notifications. Also, it seemed to me that people were being encouraged to give +Ks to strangers. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.). Since, it wasn’t a group that I deliberately joined, I left without giving it a real chance. (Like you, my clients come first and I don’t have any spare time to join new groups and networks without having a strategic plan for fitting them in to my schedule.)

      It’s interesting that you haven’t noticed an impact by joining and participating in it. Up until the recent algorithm change, my Klout score was steadily growing and was in the upper 60’s (before it dropped about 20 points). The way I grew my score was by interacting with a specific set of bloggers (obviously not all the key “influencers” that Klout felt I should be interacting with). It seems all of us met the same fate.

      I hope you’re hunch is right but after reading the 2nd article that Robert Dempsey posted a link to, “Why I Won’t Simply Ignore Klout”, I don’t believe Klout will go away. (It’s actually disturbing to follow the links to some of the sources that Robert included.) One of the problems to me is that if I do choose to opt out, will I potentially be hurting myself at some point. I admire people who are taking a stand but it’s too early for me to boycott them. I want to see where this goes. If you get a chance to read Robert’s article, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Can Klout Really Measure our Influence on Social Media?My Profile

      1. Hi Sherryl,

        I did read Robert’s post and I thought it was awesome. I have to say, that is one of the longest blog posts I’ve ever read and I didn’t skip a word. It’s written with a nice wry tone that is very engaging. He just tells it like is instead of spewing an angry rant. I also read Mark Schaefer’s “Why Klout Matters. A Lot.”

        Klout Lounge? Really?? But actually, he makes some great points too.

        In spite of what I said earlier about Klout slithering off into the sunset (okay I didn’t say slithering), the fact is the jury is still out. There are people who will make gleeful use of Klout’s scores for their marketing purposes and hiring decisions. There’s enough momentum, and certainly enough interest in what will happen as they continue to fine tune their algorithms. So they are probably here to stay.

        My own reaction is very mixed. I sort of feel like a rubber necker passing an accident. Don’t make me look! Oh I can’t help it!! So there’s a certain twisted curiosity. And it also just seems ridiculously superficial. I believe the quality of a person in real life simply can’t be measured by how many influential people have commented on their blog or K-plussed them. But maybe it’s just sour grapes. I would probably feel differently if I had “arrived” and was invited into the Klout Lounge. :^)

        The Kickin It With Klout group, by the way, is awesome. They are genuine, interesting, funny, creative people. And in spite of my mixed bag of emotions about Klout, I enjoy being a part of the Kickin It group.
        Jayna Locke recently posted..From Blog to eBook Part 3: eBook PublishingMy Profile

        1. Hi Jayna,
          Thanks for the linke to Mark’s post. I’ll try to read it tomorrow. I think I feel in a way similar to you. As for the Facebook group, if you think it’s awesome, I should definitely check it out. There’s a good chance that I could be wrong about which Klout group I was in. Someone just subscribed me to it and I just couldn’t keep up with it. Thanks again for taking the time to give us your feedback. There’s some valuable information being shared here in the comments.

          1. At the end of the day we each need to look at our businesses, look at our customers, and look at what will continue to bring in more customers. If you honestly believe that your business is dependent on your Klout score then I can’t in all responsibility suggest that you opt-out.

            There are arguments on both sides for sure. I am on one side and Mark Schaefer is definitely on the other.

            I’ve decided that for my business I don’t want to work with clients that use a shortcut to determine the potential worth I bring to their business. The testimonials I have speak to the results I can provide and the same is true for a metric ton of other businesses.

            If someone is going to take a score, created by any company, over the testimonials of paying clients then I definitely don’t want to work with them. And I don’t have to. Neither does anyone else.

            Based on my ethics and values, all of which I bring to my business I made my choice, and that was to opt-out. Everyone must do the same. I won’t disrespect you for making a different choice than I did.

  36. I started using Klout because of Twitter (I kept being promoted to use it). I down numbers and then went up really quick to 51 points. But with the changes, I’m down to 48. I feel like Dow Jones because my numbers going down and I don’t know how to get them back up. But do I care? I am not sure. I’m still weighing that issue with myself.

    Thank you Sherryl for the post. I hope you do another follow-up post based on the responses you have received.

    1. Hi Nikki,
      It’s good to hear from someone who only dropped three points. (I’m still waiting to hear from someone who actually benefited from the algorithm change.) A lot of the bloggers who I connect with suffered similar losses to mine. I am really surprised at how much some of us were affected. If in fact, we are being penalized because we interact (and influence) people who do not have high scores, I think most of us who continue participating won’t change our ways. At least I hope not.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Will CommentLuv Premium Make Your Blogging Life Easier?My Profile

  38. Hi Sherryl. Thanks for another great post. I learn so much about what’s really happening when I read your stuff.
    Thanks again
    Mike

  39. After reading both your outstanding article and the reader comments I’m feeling content that I never got involved with Klout. What impacts me strongly is the fact that Klout, Facebook and others are making changes so rapidly that “customers” are either left gravely disappointed or spending and ungodly amount of time away from business activity to implement changes (at least for those of us who don’t outsource these things). I wonder if people feel as though they are on a fast paced treadmill to get internet credibility. I think of it more as a pilgrimage where if one’s intent is authentic and the content useful and value driven, that Klouts slogan “influence across the social web” will come automatically.

    1. Thanks for the compliment Keyuri. I believe you’re absolutely right about the amount of time that some of these sites and tools are consuming. I for one, don’t really understand most of the recent changes on Facebook. (I follow Kimberly Castleberry, @AskKim, and then follow her suggestions.) I also stay connected with other bloggers who share what they’ve discovered and by following tweets, I find great articles like Robert Dempsey’s post. Throughout this “pilgrimage”, (I really like that word – much better than the “journey” we so often hear about on reality TV), I keep connecting with amazing bloggers who I constantly learn from. Since the way I’m using Klout is not time consuming and it fits well into my Twitter strategy, I’m going to ignore the “measurement” part of it and continue using it as a tool. Having said that, if there is a true mutiny, I can certainly be swayed. 🙂
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Could Your Business Survive if Something Happened to You?My Profile

  40. Hi Sherryl, I still haven’t used the service but Ms. Ileane has made me sign up so I could at least get the score… personally I have way to many things to worry about then to start looking at how many people gave me a +K or whatever.

      1. Hi Vernessa, you know what made me decide to at least set up my account it’s was Robert Dempsey, his latest article really hit home that I might be in fact missing out on something really important here for blog engage to grow stronger.

    3. I thought you might be joking about that Brian however I suppose not. If you’re okay with participating in a platform run by a company doing shady things like creating accounts for people without their consent and giving them a score that could impact them without their knowledge then by all means go ahead and connect.

      There are other companies creating measurement platforms that act much more responsibly.

      1. Robert,
        I just read your article “Why I Won’t Simply Ignore Klout” and I may join you yet. I have just begun following your sources and I had no idea that Klout was being taken so seriously. So far, the only video I’ve watched was your source about schools giving benefits to students. I intend to go through all of your sources and I recommend that everyone who wants to learn more about what’s actually going on here read it too. Thank you for taking the time to share your views with us. You definitely have my attention.

  41. there has always been a lot of skepticism when it comes to programs who claim that they can measure social media success. But it certainly is positive to be informed that Klout does include such a feature.

    Great article by the way Sherryl, it proved to be a great read!

  42. Agree with Jeannette that your article is excellent.

    Also read Robert Dempsey’s post and agree with what he says. Remember that I concluded a long time ago I was being punished for accepting a lot of my readers with no influence as connections on Linkedin?

    Just would like to add that I wonder if Facebook has a finger in this pie since kids using Facebook a lot scores high?

    Am seriously considering opting out following the instructions. My only concern is that then what has happened to Susan will happen. They rate you anyway and you have no option to opt out.

    Posted a question to Robert if he knows if it’s becoming a mass movement to leave Klout. Hopefully that’s the direction it’s going.

    1. Hi Catarina,
      I remember your saying that your influence on LinkedIn was suffering because of the connections that you were making. It seems unfair and biased to me. You’re probably right about the kids on Facebook with high scores. I’m amazed sometimes by the number of people who request to be my friend on FB. If they’re already connected to friends of mine, I’ll accept a request from someone I don’t know but if they’re not, I usually ignore them. I’m taking a risk of not connecting with a reader here but I am not connecting for sheer numbers. When I request a friendship from someone, I write a short note introducing myself.

      If I find a way for Susan to opt out while deleting her score, I’ll let you know too. It could be another blog post.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..3 Steps to Develop a Branding Strategy for Social MediaMy Profile

      1. Don’t accept requests on Facebook from people I don’t know either. The simple reason is that Facebook keeps on changing so much suddenly without knowing it strangers will have access to silly comments sent by friends. On Linkedin however, it’s strictly business so I accept about half of the requests I get because they are readers.

        Am getting more and more convinced I should opt out of Klout. According to Susan they stop rating you then.

        Have you noticed how upset people are about Klout rating minors? My nephew is just one of them. And all because of me sending him a couple of messages with Facebook.

        Would love to know what the connection between Facebook and Klout is. Maybe simply financed by the same venture capital group? But there’s definitely something there:-)

        1. It makes no sense to me that expanding your network by connecting with your readers on LinkedIn would hurt your influence.

          I hadn’t noticed that Klout was rating minors. It sounds like they’re really devaluing their scores. I’m keeping an eye out for more of the scoop on Klout and I’m sure I’ll be posting on this topic again. I think it will take a while for the dust to settle on this one. Maybe this will turn out to be another Netflex and they’ll try to reverse some of what they’ve done lately. It will be interesting to watch.
          Sherryl Perry recently posted..As a Sole Proprietor or Entrepreneur Where Do You Turn for Support?My Profile

  43. Hi Sherryl,

    My Klout score dropped by 17 points. 🙂 Until I read your article, I wasn’t even aware of Klout’s algorithm change. Before writing this comment, I went over to Klout to see what that meant. That’s when I discovered the drop in my score. I don’t really care; I was playing along somewhat for the same reason as yourself and others. It’s part of the Twitter universe, it doesn’t take a lot of time to +K someone, etc.

    But you raise an interesting issue: is this a ploy? I was aware that there seemed to less announcements of “I gave so-and-so a +K” over the past couple of months. This is a busy time of the year for many so I suspect there was less logging into Klout. So … maybe they’re feeling slighted. Maybe the “algorithm change” was meant to engender a buzz on the order of that which surrounded Google when it made the BIG “A” changes. Create mystery, panic, and a flurry of activity. LOL

    I’ll still do my “Special +K”. No harm, no foul.
    Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistant Comment SpamMy Profile

    1. Vernessa,
      How do you feel about the “I gave so-and-so a +K” announcements? I’ve been really tweaking those tweets to make them more personal which takes more time but adds more value. Still, I don’t want my Twitter stream to be cluttered with too many of those. So, even though Klout allows me 10 +Ks a day now, I tend to not use them all because I don’t want to clutter my stream. The other alternative is to give +Ks and not tweet it. What do you think?
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Will CommentLuv Premium Make Your Blogging Life Easier?My Profile

      1. Sherryl, I always tweak my +K announcements, too. It does take a little extra time but I agree that it’s worth it. One thing I do is turn the topic names used by Klout into hashtags before I send out the announcement. (i.e., “social media” becomes #socialmedia) I figure it properly associates the person being +K’d with a phrase in Twitteresque fashion. (I wonder why Klout doesn’t do it that way naturally?)

        Having 10 +Ks is good. With 5, I usually spread them out in HootSuite so I can send them according to the timezone the people receiving +Ks — not just U.S. zones but international ones, too. We.Are.Global. 🙂

        BTW: Congrats on having this article featured in Ramon Ray’s Small Business Trends: The Best Small Business Advice for this week! In case others haven’t seen it => http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/11/the-best-small-business-advice.html
        Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistants: Step Up Your GameMy Profile

        1. Vernessa, I’m glad to hear that you tweak your announcements too. That’s a great suggestion to use hashtags. I hadn’t thought of that but Klout should be automating that for us. I’m impressed that you try to send your tweets during their time zones. Now, that’s really strategic.

          Thanks for the head’s-up on the backlink. I’m following him now as well. (BTW – I’m amazed by how many pingbacks I’m getting from this post.)
          Sherryl Perry recently posted..Does Your Klout Score Fit Into Your Social Media Strategy?My Profile

  44. Hi Sherryl – thanks for the mention of the post. To summarize for your fantastic readers here the main issues I take with Klout are that their attempt to measure influence is impractical. They’ve stated that currently to be seen as influential you need to be networking and have your content shared by people they already view as influential. In addition they create scores for people whether they know it or not, and until 2 days ago you couldn’t opt-out. As it stands unless you opt-out you’ll continue being scored like it or not.

    This is irresponsible behavior on the part of the company.

    In addition to that fun you also have people making business decisions past simply advertising based on a flawed metric. Online influence is difficult to measure at best.

    What Klout has created is a great situation for them. They engineered mass by saying “everyone has Klout” and scored people whether they opted in or not. That’s how they got more people in there. With that mass they could then get advertisers on board for their perks program.

    I don’t agree with them as a company, and it would be hypocritical of me to stick with them at any level as I’ve been very public about how I feel. Having said that I can understand your reasons for sticking with it. It’s an individual decision.

    I’m interested to see what another site – Kred – has coming up. It measures more factors than Klout and is focused more on the analytics for the end user.

    Ultimately the metric I use for my business is how well I deliver for my clients. Testimonials IMO will always trump any other form of proof. When you have solid testimonials a “score” becomes irrelevant because people know you can deliver.

    And that cannot be measured, at least not by Klout.

    1. You’re welcome Robert. Thank you for coming over here and sharing your insight with us.

      From the very beginning, I’ve felt that Klout has ventured into unknown territory. Obviously, there’s nothing in place to protect an individual’s privacy in this scenario. Whether or not you want to have a Klout score, they’ve assigned one to us. So, I agree with you that I don’t agree with them and I may at some point decide to opt out too.

      I had heard of Kred. (Thanks for mentioning them.) I recently came upon another interesting blog post titled “17 Alternatives to Klout” and I bookmarked it to come back to later. It’s here if anyone is interested in reading it: http://www.readwriteweb.com/hack/2011/10/17-alternatives-to-klout.php
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Should CommentLuv Premium be Part of Your Social Media Strategy?My Profile

  45. Hi Sherryl,

    It appears that after a number of articles they only now allow you to fully opt out if you have an account. However for people like me that never had an account I still get a score even though I do not want one.

    Maybe you or someone can tell me if this is correct. The only way I can get rid of my profile is to open up an account and then delete it?
    Susan Oakes recently posted..Marketing Blitz For Extra SalesMy Profile

  46. Excellent post, Sherryl. I read Robert Dempsey’s post and he certainly makes a case for opting out of Klout. I have a Klout score and, as he points out, I never signed up for it. Klout only added LinkedIn in June and I just re-read at the stories about that and you have to add your LinkedIn account for it to factor into your Klout score. Well, I never did that. I didn’t add Twitter or Facebook — Klout did that — so why would I know to add LinkedIn? I just looked at my puny Klout score and the networks they track for my score and sure enough LinkedIn and Google+ were not in my score calculation. I spend most of my time on LinkedIn so naturally my score isn’t reflective of all my social media activity. I personally don’t care about my Klout score. Unfortunately, there are companies that do and see it as a measure of your social media influence. So it’s a dilemma caused by a third-party where we don’t exert any influence. I will be interested to see the other comments.
    Jeannette Paladino recently posted..Enlisting Employees as Brand Ambassadors Can Burnish Your Company’s ReputationMy Profile

    1. Hi Jeannette,
      I just checked and I do have my LinkedIn account connected to my Klout account. For some reason though, Twitter, Facebook and G+ are all appearing under “Identity Networks” and LinkedIn is under “Additional Networks”. Plus, it doesn’t show the user ID of my LinkedIn account. Do you (or anyone else) know how I can tell if my LinkedIn activity is being factored in?
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Can Klout Really Measure our Influence on Social Media?My Profile

  47. Hi Sherryl
    Just been over to Klout to give you a +1.
    Couple of things…

    1 You have a ridiculously low score – can’t believe it!

    2 They don’t have any topics for you!

    Weird.

      1. Hi V
        Comments are never the same without you and Mel.
        Smiled a big beamer as soon as I saw your comment.

        Klout, twitter… what next?
        I’m Skyping with Randy Cantrell tonight, honest.
        I’ll report back when we’ve had a natter and I’ve recovered from his voice.

        Big K for you tonight.

        Keith
        Keith Davis recently posted..The Tyranny of the Or…My Profile

        1. Skyping with Mr. Silk … That should be fun. I hope he talks you into doing an on-air interview with him. Really, I can’t wait!

          I hope Klout is showing your topic for public speaking. If not, remember to use hashtag #publicspeaking on all your tweets. Say hi to Randy for me. 🙂
          Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Virtual Assistants: Step Up Your GameMy Profile

          1. Hi V
            #publicspeaking… as simple as that!
            Thanks for that.

            Skyping with Mr Silk.
            Sounds like “Grooving with Mr Bloe”
            Take a look youtube.com/watch?v=aaQWOne1sfo

            Talk later.

            1. Mel and V
              When I find one of you… I get nervous, when I find you together… I put up my hands and surrender.

              Good to see you out and about Mel.

              V that hashtag dooda is such a good idea – thanks.
              I’ve been hashtagging like a man demented.

              Spent an hour talking to Randy.
              So weird on Skype – feels as though you are in the same room.
              He is such a great guy and his humour is so dry.
              Talent like his and he always plays it down with a shrug.

              Randy has a few ideas and we are trying to put something together.
              I’ll let you know.

              1. Got my new services installed yesterday, Keith — only took the technician about three hours to re-wire the condo and get me up and running again.

                Would never recommend that “other” service to my worst enemy. Not that I actually have any enemies … but you get the point. 🙂

                “Randy has a few ideas and we are trying to put something together.” Great news! Keep me in the loop.

                Mel
                Melanie Kissell recently posted..3 Simple Keys to a Strategic Plan that Rocks!My Profile

              2. Sounds yummy. See, and you chided me about all my hashtags! I told Sharon Hurley Hall (do you know her, over in UK?) who is a great writer that she was welcome to delete some of my hashtags to make room for her own comments anytime she wanted to retweet my stuff. Hey, you’re welcome to do the same! 🙂

                I like how Sherryl uses her’s, too — very tightly targeted — which is what Klout should be paying attention to. And if you haven’t created “lists” yet, read up on that because following a hashtag is a great way to keep up with your niche.

                Please do let us all know when you and Mr. Silk put forth some goodies. You know us … we’ll retweet it! 🙂
                Vernessa Taylor recently posted..Graphic Proof: JetPack Stats From WordPress.com Hijacks Your Commenting SystemMy Profile

            2. Thanks Mel! I try to fit the thinking cap over the wig every once in a while. (Truth is, I cut my hair a couple of weeks ago, so the cap fits a bit better.) Great to see you. Keith really should watch out when the coaches get together …

              I haven’t been spending much time on Klout lately, have you?
              Vernessa Taylor recently posted..My U.S.P. – A Technologist’s Marriage VowsMy Profile

  48. Hi Sherryl
    Only just started looking at Klout, then I started to notice how many articles were attacking it.

    Notice that you say…
    “Personally, I’m going to hang in there a bit longer…”

    At the moment my score is rising slowly so I’ll stay with them and keep listening to the debate.

    As ever Sherryl a balanced article that covers both sides.
    Got to be worth a +K.

  49. Aw Sherryl. What are you doing? I joined Klout because you recommended. Been meeting some great people. I had a slight drop and have a daily fluctuation but…I am still on the bleachers about Klout.

    1. I’m holding course to my original strategy Roberta. I’ll still be giving +K’s and I’ll be tweeting. I just will strip out the @klout in my tweets. Most people will know what +K means and if someone re-tweets the +K, they can always add the Klout ID if they want.

      What bothers me about the drop in my score is that I believe it’s because lately I’ve been paying more attention to giving +Ks to people with a lower Klout score than mine. My rationale was that they need it more than some of the power bloggers that I’m connected with. Since that’s the only thing I’ve been doing differently, I’m assuming that’s it and I disagree with their measuring influence that way. We’ll see what happens. They may react to the backlash and adjust the scores again.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Will CommentLuv Premium Make Your Blogging Life Easier?My Profile

      1. Thanks Sherryl. Will keep an eye on you in this case. Need my experienced advisers

  50. The Klout score changes are getting so whacky that I have been paying less and less attention to my scores and the Klout website as a whole. I have noticed in their more recent updates, the system is getting more intricate and full of features (some features I wish they would get rid of!).

    I have noticed that Klout’s site has made strides into making the user experience more ‘social’ — I really hope their site does not turn into another ‘social media’ site because Klout was originally designed to measure social media influence, NOT to be another social media website (which is where it seems it is headed).

    It’s great to hear you’ve made some new connections had Klout been non-existent. Perhaps I should look to the Klout site to gain a different level of communication between others in the network!

    1. “Whacky” is a good way to describe the changes Derek. I always expected that Klout would adjust the scores to allow more room for growth. It’s unfortunate that they adjusted so many of us downward so quickly.

      I don’t appreciate their efforts to be more social either and I don’t appreciate the perks. I expect to use Klout as a tool not as another site to network on. Thanks for joining us. I’ve followed you on Twitter and I’ll be over to check out your blog as soon as I can.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Should CommentLuv Premium be Part of Your Social Media Strategy?My Profile

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