is your klout score accurate?

Recently Augie Ray pointed out that us twitterati can update our klout score on their website.  This caught my attention because I had noticed that my klout score has not changed since it first appeared in my Hootsuite profile.  Recently I’ve been more active after a period of lower activity.  It seemed that my score should have dropped and then raised accordingly.

So I went to klout.com and created an account.  Indeed after clicking a button my klout score jumped a full 20 points.  The site  says user klout scores are updated once a week. The important takeaway from this is that if you want your klout score to reflect your social usage (see how klout measures influence) you need to set up an account with klout.

So far I haven’t seen any clear indication on the klout website  that users need to maintain an account an account with klout in order to get accurate influence score, but my experience points in that direction.  Also, and I could only guess why this is, I’ve noticed a lot of people’s klout scores are not coming up in Hootsuite.

So what might klout’s strategy be?

I noticed that klout is asking for extra profile information.  Klout seems to be acting like KloutIn (clumsy reference to LinkedIn).  Notice the account profile setup routine lifted from LinkedIn.  It is interesting watching so many companies vying to be the “database of record” for social account management.  Measuring influence in social networking is a huge opportunity and if klout becomes the default standard, those that rely on it need understand what it means and be sure their scores are accurate.

So what is the impact of klout’s implementation.  Well, if you rely on klout influence score to help you win business, land speaking deals or just gain the respect of your peers – log in to klout and check your score.  The site provides some interesting data regarding your social experiences.  You can even get a “resume badge”!