Klout is Your Social Media Peer Pressure (or Pusher, if Applicable)

Jeffrey Powers on Apr 30, 2012 (Updated: Feb 3, 2019)

Reading Time: 3 minutes

You may have heard about this way to monitor your influence online called Klout. If you don’t know, this is how Klout works. You sign in on Klout.com, connect your social networks, and collect sponsored prizes as your Klout score goes up in specific areas. For example, Subaru recently gave away prizes to people with high Klout scores for “dogs.” But your Klout score can also go down. Which means you have to post more about certain topics to make sure you don’t loose Klout.

I love watching stats. I put stat programs on my websites, like Geekazine.com, to monitor traffic. It’s really cool to see who is coming, where they are from and how long they stay on the website. Therefore, I thought I really would enjoy Klout. Unfortunately, it’s more of a chore than anything. Every time I get on Klout, my numbers drop ever so slightly. If I don’t go on for a couple week, I get disappointed that my Klout score dropped.

What Should You Connect to Klout?

Image Representing Linkedin As Depicted In Cru...

Really, the best way to gauge Klout score is to only connect to those social networks you use. If you post 1-2 items to LinkedIn, for example, then it’s going to drive down your overall Klout score. While you use LinkedIn, it might be best not to monitor your interactiveness through Klout – simply because it doesn’t separate your LinkedIn Klout from your Facebook or Twitter Klout.

Klout score decline

Klout iPhone App

Klout launched an iPhone app just last week to keep you abreast of your Klout score while on the go. If you turn on notifications, you can be instantly warned if your score drops. That way, you can get on Twitter or Facebook and push your score back up. Like I said, it’s a chore.

Is Klout a True Social Media Score?

There have been questions as to the algorithm of Klout. Is this service is truly measuring your influence? Some people are using Klout as a bragging board for Social Media and putting it on their resumes. That could be a dangerous thing for you if the next day your score drops.

Let’s also talk about the affect on perks you can get from Klout. Those would be special discounts on product or services for your influence. Of course, the idea is you use the service, then talk about it, in return, the product or service gets word of mouth. So the question is: are you influencing, or are you giving your influence away for a free cup of coffee or a dog blanket?

Last week I was in Boise, ID talking to people, and doing the old fashioned networking. I met about 30-40 new people, in which I felt I influenced them outside of any social network. I also got to talk to the Mayor of Boise, ID, and former NASA astronaut Barbara Morgan. How can that improve my Klout score if I don’t tweet it?

Who Has 100 Klout?

Justin bieber has a klout score of 100

So who has the most Klout? The King of Klout is Justin Bieber. He has a perfect 100% score. President Barack Obama and Lady Gaga have 93 Klout. Steve Jobs Bot has 61% Klout score. George Takei‘s Kout is only 73 – and I believe he has a better influence out there. Ashton Kutcher only has a 83% Klout score, while Oprah Winfrey has 79 (Oprah Quotes is at 82).

Social media rockstars Robert Scoble is 88, Leo Laporte is 80, Kevin Rose is 79, WSJ’s Walt Mossberg is at 63, and photographer Trey Ratcliff is 88. Daniel Tosh (Tosh.0) is at 86 AND 55.

On the same token, the Aflac Duck has a Klout score of 61. Annoying Orange is 64, Chad Vader is 34, and the Old Spice Guy (Isaiah Mustafa) is 53.

BTW – MethodShop‘s Klout is only 39…

Alternatives to Klout

There are a couple alternatives to Klout. Kred is a measure of reach, although they only connect to Twitter and Facebook at this time. If you use Google+, YouTube or LinkedIn more, then you won’t have much of a score on Kred. PeerIndex also only monitors Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. They have a perks section as well. Their topic fingerprint shows you a circle graph of what areas you are influential in.

Will this Article Raise my Klout Score?

Hard to say. It most likely won’t – unless it hits a large population and they retweet from my tweet. Then again, you could Give me Klout and add to my influence.

It does take a lot of work to keep that score up. If you take time off social networks, your score will go down. So it’s more like a Karma score than anything. Still, if you are addicted to your social networks, then these services will be good measure of how you are being reached.

What’s your Klout score? Can you beat a 39? Feel like bragging? Please post your score below in the comments.

Related Articles

5 Ways to Run a Successful Kickstarter Campaign (methodshop.com)

The New Twitter Fail Whale [pic] (methodshop.com)

A picture is worth 1,000 words… including your Facebook Cover photo [pic] (methodshop.com)

Jeffrey Powers
As a podcaster, videographer and blogger, Jeffrey works to convey the geek message. Inspired and passionate about tech and geek life. As a musician, Jeffrey loves to rock the house.