There’s a direct correlation between my Klout score and, oh, let’s call it my life score. When the Klout score goes up, my life score goes down. I’m less happy.
When the Klout score drops, I’m happier. Generally.
Klout bills itself as the “Standard for Influence” among social media. It tells you how many people you supposedly influence via Twitter, Facebook, whatever. Its state-of-the-art algorithms reveal that Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber and Britney Spears have more influence than someone with 18 Twitter followers. If Justin Bieber tells his Twitter followers to buy Irish Spring, then by God they’re going to buy Irish Spring.
Periodically I check my score. I guess it’s a nice way to see if anyone out there is listening. Call it quantitative reassurance for the digitally insecure.
Yet I soured on Facebook a couple of months back, and because of various work and personal obligations, I’m not on Twitter as much as I was, say, six months ago.
My Klout score has dropped, but I’m noticeably happier the more time I spend offline. I’m now a 48 on Klout, whatever that means. If you get to 60 you get 15 percent off at Pizza Hut (not really, but that’s not a bad potential commercial tie-in).
This is no championing of the Luddite lifestyle, nor do I strive to live as one. It simply means – I think – that my life is better lived by the five senses. No offense to 140-character limits and “Like” buttons, but has anyone else noticed that Facebook is turning into a giant billboard, or that the same 20 of your FB friends are the ones posting over and over and over again? And the ones you wish would update more frequently only swing by occasionally?
Klout, like Foursquare, is best intended for commercial and marketing matters. As someone who uses social media for personal reasons, the best use I can think of for Klout is to indicate when I need to step back and unplug.
