The Return On Influence In A World Of Klout

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Episode #308 of Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Mark W. Schaefer over at Grow Blog recently published his second book, Return On Influence – The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing, which dissects the fascinating world of social scoring an individual consumer’s true influence in the online channels. While this is already a very contentious issue, it seems like marketers are the first ones in the door on this. We see this as a prime opportunity to tip the scales by better understanding who is complaining about us and who is lauding the brands that we represent. At the same time, many marketers see Klout and the power to social score individuals as a great way to not only nurture our evangelists but uncover new ones. Whether or not you think that this is an idea that will stick, it’s here… it’s going to evolve and people like Mark think it’s a pretty big deal. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast #308.

2 comments

  1. Not everyone is as delighted with or excited about Klout. Klout would create your profile by default and wait for you to collect it which means your brand name and twitter handle are created and public ally searched on Klout and until I campaigned with Klout for the option of getting out you had no choice but to be scored and measured. What amazed me is the scope for abuse or bullying that these services open up. By automatically creating a user profile they create an implicit assumption of acceptance and in doing so it is possible for others to game that account creation to suggest a profile might be influential in unwanted or distasteful topics. People are not simple metrics boiled down to a snap shot of relationships and content they are a fast moving continuum of ideas and relationships. We should actively discourage such public and social scoring mechanisms as they deteriorate and lower morale for the community by creating pressure to be defined by social norms which are driven by corporate requirements not community values.

  2. The whole thing about klout score not being representative of true online influence and being gamed is the exact same problem as the problem search engines are trying to solve. AS there is SEO, there is KEO. As Klout progresses, accuracy will improve.

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