

Beyond Klout: Better Ways To Measure Social Media Influence  - adampopescu
http://readwrite.com/2012/10/24/beyond-klout-better-ways-to-measure-social-media-influence

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diego
_"But perhaps Topsy's biggest selling point is what it doesn't do: the service
doesn't reveal user scores. That simple, easy to read score - Klout's calling
card and biggest selling point - is also its biggest weakness. Obssessing over
that number can quicly become addictive - and separated from geniune social
influence."_

Absolutely. This has been known for a long time:

<http://buildingreputation.com/writings/2010/02/on_karma.html>

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mattgreenrocks
Do we actually need metrics for 'social media influence?' How is this any
different from an e-popularity contest? How does it change online
communication for the better? It seems like it is more a play for advertising.

I grew up in the age of the Internet being this nerdy and niche thing where
what we said online didn't quite have the levity of offline speech. That
doesn't mean it wasn't important; but instead, the disconnected and semi-
anonymous nature of the Internet made it such that the boring power hierarchy
was not as much of a factor in communication as it would be in real life.

Now, it seems like we want to re-create that using questionable metrics.
Remember, if there's one thing humans always get right, it is using metrics
properly!

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codva
Last week, a friend got himself onto the top 30 Klout influencers list for
some conference he wasn't even at. He simply started tweeting lame general
platitudes about business with the appropriate hashtag, and by 10 AM he was a
top influencer at the conference. I doubt he was even dressed by 10 AM.

The only thing Klout measures is how hard somebody is willing to work to
increase their Klout score.

