Remember when you were a kid and it was your birthday and you’d get the bumps? Well, that happened to me this year too.
Except virtually.
It was my birthday earlier in the week and I got a little present from Klout – my score increased from 66 to 68.
I got a Klout bump.
And while I appreciate the algorithmic gesture , I’m pretty sure the upswing is strictly artificial – and short-lived.
My sense is it was caused by all the activity on Facebook, the well-wishing and back and forth – that I really appreciated by the way!
Those greetings had an immediate positive affect both on my psyche and Klout score.
This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this. I’ve been teaching social media for the last several years and one of the first things I do is get my class to connect and interact with each other. And that close contact in a closed space always leads to an artificial high.
So what does this say about influence?
For communicators, marketers, bloggers – anyone involved in understanding and working in the influence market – the quick growth spurt over a short period of time reinforces the notion that Klout may be a less accurate measure of influence that it purports to be. And if you’re a brand, you should take that to heart.
The overall measurement is light on real context. That’s something Pierre-Loic Assayag, founder and CEO of Traackr, and others have been talking about for a number of years.
Without context you have a popularity contest. And in a popularity contest, as in day trading, there are lots of ups and downs. The question is: am I any more influential than I was a couple of days ago because I had a birthday? I don’t think so.
If you’re a business, how do you deal with that?
First look beyond that all-inclusive metric and consider trends over time.
Second, dig deeper and into more sources to determine if the person knows more about greasy spoons or venture capital. Depending on what your goals are, that decision is an important one. And it takes sophisticated research and analytic skills.
We need to go beyond sheer numbers (does it remind you of impressions?) and develop the means to credential who is truly influential in what. That’s when relationships start to get interesting.
So thank you Klout – for the gift and for making me feel even more worthy on my birthday.
And when my influence retreats to its regular place, I will be only slightly wistful.
Have you had a Klout bump for your birthday or other event where you were suddenly more socially active? I’m interested to hear your stories and if you’ve had the same experience as me.
