Alyssa DeFonte

Comm 3533 01
Social Media
5/7/15
Do You Have Klout?
Throughout the past couple of years, the Internet has made a
huge impact in our daily lives. Whether that is communicating with
friends or sharing your thoughts and ideas, they can benefit us in more
ways than you could ever imagine. Through such platforms as
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it can be rather addicting to know
what others think of your presence online. And in 2008 there was a
website that could allow you to view your online influence and impact
you have with others. This website is called Klout.
In the Hootsuite training series, I viewed an interview between
Hootsuites VP in marketing, Ben Watson, and the CEO of Klout, Joe
Fernandez. Throughout this interview they discussed everything one
would need to know about Klout and how it is beneficial to everyone
who is surrounded by social media and has a following.
Joe Fernandezs idea surrounding this website is having you plug
in all of your social media outlets, and based on a certain algorithm will
in turn give you a Klout score of 1-100. Based off of your Klout score,
you will be able to tell the influence you have online and different ways
to engage your audience through different topics the website gives you
based on your interests.

You use these different topics to share on your personal media

outlets to ultimately have your website grow and expand in order for
your Klout score to be increased which can in turn give you Klout
points which can be prizes such as Windows Phones or free rooms in
Vegas based on your interests.
According to Mashable.com, Joe Fernandez came up with the idea
while his mouth was wired after surgery and he had to rely on social
media for interaction with others. After his idea came to life , one can
see how beneficial this website is based on how social media outlets
are used to enhance your career or increase relationships between
others. Joe Fernandezs goal is to help you leverage your time online to
get the ultimate opportunity to grow and expand your online influence.
According to Wired magazine, they discuss what your Klout score
means to potential employees when it comes to working in the media
field. They discussed a job interview in which they used Klout to hire an
employee. Based on the first interview, the hiring manager cut the
interview short due to the first interviewers low Klout score of 34. But
the hiring manager hired the next interviewer due to the fact that his
Klout score was 67 which means he is more involved in social media.
Psychology & Marketing Return on Influence article discusses
how even your Klout score can ultimately be as important as your
credit score for the years to come: Others have even suggested that in
the future, ones social score could become as important as ones

credit score. For example, although recruiters dont discuss it openly,

some industries such as advertising and marketing, where online
connections are essential, have been known to use social scores in
hiring decisions.
Business Insider gives us some insight on how to increase our
Klout scores: Klout is starting with article recommendations but it's
plotting an expansion into other types of shareable posts, such as
quotes, photos and questions/conversation starters. By having these
available through the website, we can then use them to help engage
out audience for interaction therefore making our time online more
valuable.
Just about any career now uses social media to interact with their
customers or even communicate with coworkers. A study from
Montana University shows that even librarians use applications such as
Twitter. By these individuals learning Twitter, user community grew 100
percent in one year and with a corresponding 275 percent increase in
user interactions! After that year, using a community analysis
approach through social media outlets, ultimately demonstrates that
the principles interactivity through personal communication can
benefit a business entirely.
By 2016, firms will be spending an estimated $5 billion I
marketing on social media. With this information, Todd J Bacile, a
professor at Florida State University assigned his class the Klout

Challenge In this challenge, he assigned his class to use social media

to increase their Klout scores in order for them to benefit from this
come graduation time. This challenge entailed the students to use
their Klout account and different engagement strategies in order for
them to increase their Klout score for their final grade. Both of his
classes increased their scores by 39% and 43%, which can benefit
them in the long run if they decide to peruse a career in the media
world.
The need for Klout in our lives is something that can be very
beneficial if you are dealing with social media for your business or
career. And lets face it, a lot of companies are using just about every
media outlet under the sun now a days! By using Klout, you become
more aware of what your audience likes and therefore gives you more
articles and topics to expand upon your audience. By sharing this
insight you will increase your Klout score and the more your score is
the more incentive it gives you to post because of the Klout perks you
will be rewarded for doing something you enjoy! (Neat right?!) With
this valuable tool, enhancing your options for a better career can be as
easy as sharing your opinion to your twitter followers!

Works Cited
Bacile, Todd J. "The Klout Challenge: Preparing Your Students For
Social Media Marketing." Marketing Education Review 23.1 (2013): 8792. Business Source Elite. Web. 6 May 2015.

Capella, Michael L. "Review Of Return On Influence: The

Revolutionary Power Of Klout, Social Scoring, And Influence Marketing."
Psychology & Marketing 30.7 (2013): 632-633. PsycINFO. Web. 6 May
2015.

Shontell, Alyson. "Klout, A Startup That Ranks How Important

People Are Online, Now Helps People Boost Their Scores." Business
Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 06 Feb. 2014. Web. 06 May 2015.

Stevenson, Seth. "What Your Klout Score Really Means."

Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, n.d. Web. 06 May 2015.

Taylor, Chris. "Why Klout Had to Change - and Why You Shouldn't
Count It Out." Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2015.

Young, Scott W. H., and Doralyn Rossmann. "Building Library

Community Through Social Media." Information Technology & Libraries
34.1 (2015): 20-37. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 May 2015.