Finding value in Klout-like sites
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There is value to be had from services like Klout and PeerIndex, but users believe that value is limited, according to a survey this wee
I asked those in my Facebook community, “Do you find value in influence benchmarking tools like Klout and PeerIndex,” and the responses proved interesting.
Sites such as Klout, PeerIndex and TweetLevel provide social media analytics that measure users’ influence across their social network. These services look at various metrics such as the size of a network, the content created and how people interact with that content to come with a ‘score’ to depict influence.
Nineteen Facebook friends took part in my survey, and the vast majority (13) confirmed that they did find value in such information, but that value is limited.
Joseph Thornley, CEO of Thornley Fallis and 76design, said “Until these tools can detect the context in which interactions occur, they will continue to be more properly considered measures of popularity rather than influence. By context, I mean the subject matter around which people engage.”
It’s a good point. I’d add that for many users, these tools offer only a broad sketch of influence because they depend on having good, complete information to give an accurate score. So someone might be somewhat quiet on Twitter but very active on travel forums and blogs. Can Klout measure this person’s true influence and the value of his good opinion for tour operators and accommodation providers?
Only one one respondent declared influence tools outright valuable. Five said they have no value at all. Consultant Rebecca Happy said, “No, they are inaccurate. They are very delayed in their updating of info…sometimes by two years!”
Determining online influence is a challenge being worked on by some of the industry’s smartest people. I’m not sure if they can come with the definitive standard for influence because of these issues of context and access. In addition, the social Internet is constantly changing with new tools and trends emerging all the time, so it would be a constant game of catch up.
But Klout, PeerIndex and the others do actually provide an ‘objective’ snapshop as a bit of a benchmark, so therefore do offer some value, at least.
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Good post, Sherrilynne.
Klout, PeerIndex and their associated lists drive me up the wall (personally), but as per recent conversations within the industry which led to this post http://bit.ly/hyrECS it seems at the moment there is no other consensus by which to measure either our own online influence (for ‘online’ read ‘Twitter’) or that of other people.
The jury’s out, but as some people take it deadly serious it’s surely better to have a good score than a low one. That goes for PR agencies as well as individuals IMHO, by the way.
Thanks for the input Chris. I’m very interest to see how this whole ‘influence’ thing works out in the long run. I’ve long since stopped checking people’s Technorati authority, but I used to think it was a very important metric. Like I said, things change. Thanks also for sharing the link to your post here. Why do you close the comments?
I find the two interesting but a bit pointless. I saw somebody write on twitter the other day that they had a peer index of 30+ and they hardly had any followers as it was a new account.
I think both have their flaws and should be treated as an indication but not as the holy grail to finding the influencers.
Well said Chris. I agree entirely, but still, I do find it fun to do my two top 20 lists!
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