Klout Gate Kont’d: Krazy Klout and other cartoons. (Social media satire edition 35)
I can’t quite believe what Klout is doing and it’s getting worse by the minute!
As Klout throws itself into investor satisfaction, commercialism and celebrity, it seems that the social media brigade are pondering two main issues: the 1st is, whether they put too much trust into Klout in the first place and the 2nd is, where to go now as an alternative, if anywhere?
Empire Avenue, PeerIndex and newcomer Kred are all potential candidates, but do we really need to be counted, corrected, acknowledged and adjusted? Maybe we should let our social media efforts be judged on their own merits; my blog and my social media platforms say all that needs to be said about me and what I do and there’s no question their about accuracy or transparency? Maybe we should rule our own social domains and let people enter via, Empire Avenue, Xeeme, Aboutme and maybe even CubeSocial and Kred? (I’m still looking into CubeSocial and Kred).
It’s only because ‘social capital’ sites or platforms such as PeerIndex and Klout offer their algorithms or opinions of us, that we are either pleased, displeased or indifferent. The reason such platforms exist is simply because it takes a lot of time to examine and judge an individuals ‘social capital’, that’s possibly why Empire Avenue offers a better profile, because of its connectivity and usage scenario; basically, what you see is what you get. Now, that’s transparency! (OK, it can be ‘gamed’, but not that much nowadays.)
It's my (social media) Kingdom & I rule it!
The whole Klout Gate fiasco makes me wonder if we shouldn’t just rule our own social media kingdoms? We’ve all built what we’ve got, whoever we are and it takes time, effort and dedication; maybe we were wrong to let someone dictate its value to us in the 1st place? Maybe we gave to much trust to a stranger?
Maybe Klout's irrelevant anyway?
Whether our Klout score is 74 or 56, we are still ourselves and have lots to offer, people’s confidence shouldn’t be shaken by a few numbers, if they have social media experience and talent, it’s all there online somewhere anyway.
Although it may seem like your worst nightmare, it probably isn’t!
Don't be frightened by the numbers!
It would seem that few people actually saw their Klout scores go up; 3 people Tweeted me about it and yet loads more complained about a decline, in fact I’ve never had so many comments on one blog post before!
One guy tried to defend Joe’s ‘flawed system’ and said we should put things into a proper perspective and to a degree, I guess he’s right. We should have considered the way Klout works long ago and expected this; the perfect score of Justin Bieber, the gargantuan followings of Lady Gaga and Britney, us ordinary social media people, we never really stood a chance, did we?? We were bound to be put in our place eventually.
Are you well connected on Klout?
So here we are in a social media dilemma of sorts, potentially disillusioned by something we considered our own, although it probably never was, and in the position of looking for a replacement or creating our own social capital indicators.
What do we need, if anything? Is PeerIndex or Empire Avenue really the answer?
We can promote our own talent!
I’m constantly reminding people that social media is just one tool in the box of many for marketers and maybe social media can promote itself in many ways apart from using ‘social capital’ algorithms and platforms?
I would be very interested to see what you have to say about this and later this week I will be addressing the way that the lowering of our Klout scores has lowered the potency of our Tweets.
Klout was kind enough to point out that people with a Klout score of under 75 are now are likely to benefit much less from their Tweets, they’re likely to get a lot less ReTweets too!
Please fell free to let me know how you feel about Klout Gate, because it’s not over yet!
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A very nice article totally agree with YOU! Klout is only a tool but it never turn to be our social media judge as long as its not working reasonably without any real methods or standards of scoring! Thanks Peter.
Hello Reem and sorry to be so slow to respond!
Thanks for your time and comments!
It seems that many of us were disappointed because we trusted Klout too much and gave it a lot of support!!
I’m interested to see what will happen once the dust settles!!
All the very best, Peter, aka MarketingM8
What I’m curious about is whether the intention was to reward high Klout & penalize lower Klout ratings, the 75+/- divide. If intentional, isn’t greater influence its own reward?
Hello Ed,
I was swamped by comments, hence the delay!!
I was happy at 75 and I felt I’d earned it! If that’s what Joe thought I was worth, OK, great!! However, over recent weeks I’ve been busy in the not so digital world (earning ££ not Eaves) and I get smashed down from 74 to 56 (now) that’s quite a fall!!
Oh well, it’s given us a reality check and chance to consider if we were taking Klout too seriously!
Let’s put it down to experience and see what happens next! Life goes on, online and off!!
Great to hear from you Ed, all the very best Peter, aka MarketingM8
Haha love this article man. The cartoons are a nice touch, but I hope I don’t have to resort to becoming a street performer once my Klout score reaches 15.
Hello Adam,
Thanks very much for the support!!
I too might be a little out of shape for handstands and cartwheels, but I might check out PeerIndex a bit more and look into Kred given the chance.
I’ve been with PeerIndex (and steady) since the beginning of 2011 and finding it an interesting comparison to Klout!
Social media is still relatively new and we’ll get used to these major changes eventually!!
Thanks for your time, all the very best, Peter aka MarketingM8
How would Klout’s algorithm change affect the actual impact and reach of Tweets? Am I missing something here?
Hi Martin,
Here’s the link that explain it all http://www.constructionmarketinguk.co.uk/2011/11/09/has-klout-gone-krazy-you-ruined-my-tweets-joe/
This was direct from the Klout blog, some people say their Tweets are unaffected so there’s no telling how accurate it is. Very in-keeping with Klout’s usual style!
I hope it explains thing for you.
All the very best, Peter aka MarketingM8
I think Klout has lost both clout and merit. It’s ridiculous to say I won’t get retweeted as much – I am getting the same amount of retweets and mentions, actually more than when I was 71,72.
I believe what they’ve done is beyond ridiculous and I would like to see the market come back and slap them in the face.
Hello Mollee, humble apologies for the late response!!
I haven’t even had chance to compare my Tweets and ReTweets, but I think I’ve had a lot of RT’s from the Klout posts! LOL!!
I agree, Klout has shot itself in both feet and announcing the fact it was all done for accuracy and transparency was very silly.
Whatever ‘authority’ Klout had gained has certainly diminished and we shall see what happens next. Maybe, it’ll all blow over? Who knows? Who even cares?
I think maybe many of us took Klout a bit too seriously anyway?? (I know I did)
Great to hear from you, all the very best Peter aka MarketingM8
I’m afraid no algorithm out there can really judge my clout. If I have something worth reading they’ll read it. If the people in my circle feel I’m credible they’ll listen. It’s easy to build thousands of followers but it’s a false network.
I think I’ll keep living in the “real” world and read posts/tweets from people I know that have real credibility and continue to maintain my own integrity…..
Hello John,
I agree 100% and when people stop reading my blog that’s when I’ll really worry!!
I can cope not being ‘up there’ with Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga and it’s possible that’s what Klout will become, a place for celebs! We shall see.
Great to hear from you, all the very best, Peter, aka MarketingM8
Peter, another great blog post as expected! When will SM folks realize that Klout is a FOR-profit organization that initially positioned themselves as the ‘standard measurement of influence’? It was us ‘influencers’ on Twitter that tweeted, recommended, and even promoted Klout to all of our followers, friends, and colleagues.
It is rather suspicious that the week of Klout’s algorithm change coincided with the VC funding announcement. Klout is in business to make money. Even though they touted themselves as being transparent, their credibility has gone down the drain with this latest fiasco and poor PR management.
They frivolously used us folks on Twitter to promote their ‘brand’ and ‘business model’ as an independent scorecard for SM influence. In fact they knew what they were doing which was building up their marketing database of profiled ‘influencers’ on Twitter and than extend the connectivity to Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
Klout is nothing but a marketing database organization that used the Twitter ‘influencers’ to build up their database so Klout can in return, ‘sell’ the user profiles to brands such as Subway, Audi, AXE, etc for marketing campaign and promotional purposes. This is the money maker for Klout and unfortunately, they will continue with this business model if they want to maintain a postive stream of VC funding.
It is us Twitter ‘influencers’ who were fooled by Klout when we originally thought that they were an objective and independent scorecard for SM influence.
They may have fooled me once, but they will never fool me again. I have opted out of Klout and will be recommending the same to all of my followers, colleagues, and clients because this past proven business practice of claiming to be transparent, yet proven otherwise, is highly questionable and clearly unacceptable.
Hello Edward, what an amazing comment! You must win prizes mate, this is a post not just a comment!!
You and I are very much in the same boat as we did promote the use and the belief in Klout and that’s perhaps why we may feel more let down and deserted than some other people.
I had to smile too at the timing of the algorithm change and being a cynical type (who has bad memories from the NASDAQ in 2000 and the DotCom stock market fiasco) I did wonder if it was truly just a coincidence.
I think the move towards commercialism and celebrity will weaken the brand and SM people will move away and leave Joe, Justin and Lady Gaga all alone.
Good for you for opting out and I may not be too far behind you! However, I can feel one final story in the pipeline!!
Thanks for the mega comment Edward, great to hear from you again, all the very best, Peter aka MarketingM8 (Sorry about the delay, I’ve been SO busy!!)
THANKS Peter! Funny how you mention Justin Bieber and Lady GaGa. Interesting how Klout promotes their high ranking ‘influencers’ such as these two yet when you view Justin and GaGa’s profiles, they are not even signed up with Klout and most likely do not even care!
Goes to show you how a questionable business like Klout is riding on the global ‘marketing’ popularity of Bieber and GaGa by ‘scraping’ Twitter for data on Klout’s definition of ‘influencers’ and leveraging this to promote their business model to the unsuspecting.
Again, Klout is not about the ‘standard for influence’. Never have and never will. Klout is about building up a marketing database of SM profiles that will be used for profitable business operations such as selling the access to these so-called ‘influencers’ to commercial brands such as Audi, AXE, Subway, etc.
Until a truly objective, non-commericalized, and fully transparent scorecarding organization to measure ‘the standard for influence’ comes to market, the SM community with have to live with Klout and the upcoming competitors such as Kred, Peer Index, and ProSkore.
Till than, treat all of these businesses as a For-Profit organization and your profiles for the use of their ‘free’ service is at the sole discretion of these companies.
Hello Edward and thanks again for your input!
It looks as though you have also become pretty cynical about ‘standards of influence’ and I guess we (the social media community) were taken for a bit of a social media ride! I promoted and recommended Klout a lot and I’m really in two minds whether to forget all about it or not. Maybe it should be an easy decision?
I agree that until something better comes along we will have to contend with what we have, but I bet we’ll a little more discerning than we were before! Once bitten, twice shy! That’s universal!
Thanks for your support as always mate! All the very best Peter, aka MarketingM8
Although ranking in the top 95% of Klout users, I have decided to delete my profile. I refuse to allow a score determine how I interact with people using social media.
Hi Janis, at last I get a few minutes to write back to you!
You are not alone and I wouldn’t be shocked to other follow.
I think Klout has disappointed many of us that supported and promoted it, however, like any good writer, I can see one final story on the horizon!!
Thanks for your time and comments Janis, all the very best Peter, aka MarketingM8
Hi Peter,
I enjoyed your insights and Blog. I’m one of the ones who had their Klout score drop, to put it mildly, from 64-65 to 41. I agree with the other comments.
I’m going to delete my Klout profile (why hadn’t I thought of that).
We should start an “Occupy Klout” movement by everyone deleting their profiles to send a message to Klout that their success is dependent on its users, not Perk’ers. That would send a clear message that if they can just launch changes without forewarning, impacting many who make their livelihood based on their Klout scores … people will react unfavourably.
Cheers,
Jeannette
http://optioneerjm.blogspot.com
Hello Jeanette, so sorry for not getting back to you sooner!
I have been swamped by comments about Klout and I was sure I’d replied to you! Humble apologies!
I agree that Klout and similar platforms are nothing without support and that’s why many people feel so cheated by Klout. I recommended them on various blog posts, created lists and sent dozens of K+’s to people, maybe more and I get slapped in the face! My Klout score is still slowly dropping despite my continued social media engagement, so much for transparency!
My PeerIndex score remains constant & I’m just going to check out PROskore again!
We shall see what becomes of Klout!
Great to hear from you, all the very best, Peter, aka MarketingM8
People with actual clout don’t worry about their rank on a website.
Hello Nima,
I tend to agree but it did upset a lot of people!
I’m kind of over it now, when people stop reading my blog, then I’ll panic!!
Good to hear from you, all the very best, Peter aka MarketingM8