The Plausibility of Klout November 6, 2011 by LeAnna J. Carey

Many of you may be aware of the recent conflab regarding Klout changing to a new algorithm last week. Klout seemingly measures your influence online across multiple platforms so a change in algorithm impacts how your “influence” is perceived.

While there have been exceptional social media heavy weights like Pam Moore (@PamMktgNut) and Jure Klepic (@JkCallas) lending some objectivity, there has also been a disconcerting number of worries from the Twitterverse about how lowered scores may impact the ability to secure a job.  One thing that the successes and failures from the health care sector teach is that you must ask the big questions. When healthcare vendors promise a 6:1 ROI – trust me, it’s time to start asking questions.  Based on the angst that I have observed, I have three questions that may infuse perspective:

 

  1. What is the plausibility of measuring influence?
  2. What are the underpinnings of the methodology?
  3. Are you thinking like an innovator?

 

For starters, what is the plausibility of accurately measuring influence, and what is the methodology for doing so?  Consider that the current market place has endured one crisis of confidence after another, resulting in demands for more rigorous transparency and accountability.  One of the lessons that all of us have hopefully learned over the past three years is that ultimately we, as individuals, are responsible for recognizing and challenging any nebulous measurement system.

Secondly, without a solid understanding of the underpinnings of the methodology, why would anyone place themselves or their reputation in this type of scoring system?  Consider Pavlov’s dog theory of conditioned reflex that is often used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than using critical thinking.  Given that we are in a jobless recovery, triggered responses to the daily rise and fall of  Klout scores may be disruptive to your long term vision and contribution to the market place.  There is a bigger picture – and this economy needs big thinkers.  Imagine sitting in front of a CFO trying to explain how Klout will increase organic growth of a company as a proven methodology, let alone trying to explain the random variation.

 

Finally, test your intuition by thinking like an innovator.  Take the concept of influence measurement out for a reality check. If you have been using Klout, it is unlikely that you have seen a clear correlation between your actions and the reflective score; this is your intuition speaking.  Rather than go into a tail spin, take a minute to read Dennis Stauffer’s blog on “Innovation Essentials – Testing our Intuitions” on the Innovation Excellence website, where he asks the right question, “How can we test our intuitions to determine how reliable they are? Which is to say: How can we use data and experience to enhance our intuitions?”  Apply this principle and ask yourself if Klout is probing for feedback to improve their product transparency?  If your intuition is telling you that there is a black box between what Klout says they are measuring, and what is actually being measured, trust your instinct.  Measuring online communication is complex and there will be more measures to come in the marketplace to test, draw correlations and causality.  As we go down this road, do your own thinking – think like an innovator and ask the right questions.

FacebookTwitterGoogle+Share

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>