I spoke previously about Klout when I became a Specialist on the social-influence ranking system in mid-June. Since then, not much has changed with my score (moved a little up, then a little down) or my classification, but the system continues to add new features to improve.
What’s changed?
- Now Connected to Foursquare
A month ago, the Klout algorithm incorporated influence on Linkedin, and now they’ve moved on to Foursquare, the located based check-in service. I had used Foursquare pretty sparingly in the past, but find myself hurrying when I walk into places to check-in to try to get my score up, which is especially difficult when some days I only leave my apartment to go to the gym. I don’t think it was Klout’s intention to purposely bring more action to these others services, but to bring additions that the consumer was asking for.
- What I’m influential about
When I last wrote about my Klout score, I was influential about job searching, business and speakers. For whatever reason, Klout last picked up my tweets from the fourth of july (I’m now influential about liberty, thanks to my tweet “To life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”) and the rumor of ANOTHER Toy Story movie (I’m now influential about disney and movies). Although apparently those tweets got some press, my topics are a poor representation of what I tweet about. This raises some concerns for me about Klout, because I don’t know how often they look at my topics.
I do know, however, that when you find a topic that doesn’t agree with you, you have the option to press an x next to it to take it off your list. I’ve done this with these three keywords, and hopefully Klout will reassess my influence soon. I’m going to do my best to show Klout I’m influential about Boston, social media, and job searching and will keep you posted on my hopeful success (and best practices!)
- You can give +K to people
As part of the influential topics section and people that influence you, users now have the opportunity to give out up to 5 points a day to people who you think have influence. While I haven’t given or received any +K, I’m finding that some users do it religiously every day, and some hate the idea of it. Personally, I think it’s a great way to show your appreciation to those who provide great information, but I also see how it could get out of hand.
- Klout perks
The biggest news from Klout lately was related to Klout perks. The European music streaming sensation Spotify just launched in the US and those with Klout were able to get accounts the first day. It worked very well for Spotify’s launch (Klout’s website was down for hours because so many people were trying to see if they had enough Klout) but eventually it seemed EVERYONE had enough Klout if they tried. Still, I think it was a worthwhile partnership for Spotify and Klout, and I believe more launches will happen this way in the future.