Klout is an analytics company that provides social media users with “KLOUT scores” between 1 and 100 based on the activities of social media platforms.
Founded in 2008, Klout seems to be on the road to lasting success. It was even acquired in 2014 by a company called Lithium Technologies for a price of up to $200 million.
But four years later, on May 25, 2018, Clott turned dark.
Klout’s History
Klout’s existence is attributed to one of the most terrifying medical procedures one can accept: chin wiring.
In 2007, when he was 30, a businessman named Joe Fernandez had to close the jaw connection for three months during part of the surgery.
According to the interview An article in the ringtones of 2018. He couldn’t speak, and he had to rely on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to stay connected with the wider world.
That was when Fernandez had an idea. What if word of mouth can be measured to some extent? What if you could assign numerical values to a person’s social media impact?
Fernandez decided to test his ideas with extra time.
He wrote a script to get data from the then-open API of Twitter at the time. He then uses the Excel table of the Twitter handle to create a scoring system based on the number of followers, engagement, and overall impact on Twitter.
In the scoring system, 1 sends a signal Very low impact and 100 signal Extremely high influence. By mid-2008, after his chin healed, he shared Klout’s prototype with some friends.
The rise of online influence
According to Fernandez, his friends thought the idea was stupid.
As early as 2008, this word Influencer After all, it’s not really not. It has no location on dictionary.com Until 2016Merriam-Webster does not exist Until 2019.
I did it very quickly Google Trends Analysis The search volume of this word. Between 2007 and 2016, this was basically irrelevant.
But Fernandez is ahead of the times. Maybe he feels that the influencer will soon become Incredible Related. Perhaps, by building Klout, he helped Production Influencers are influential.
His friends may not like the concept of a social media rating system, but the idea quickly gained attention with the social media users themselves.
Klout website looks like this November 11, 2009.
On the left side of the screen, you can see the “K score” or KLOUT score of the recent influencers. You can also see which topics say that influencers are influential about it.
On the right side of the screen, users can sign up for a KLOUT account to track their impact on Twitter.
By April 2010, the search term “klout score” came from Plane lines reaching tiny peaks on Google. By June 2012, it had exploded.
Obviously, people want to know their influence.
Klout quickly left the Beta stage. Soon, you can see your own KLOUT score based on your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter presence. If your KLOUT scores well, you can even earn a KLOUT allowance.
KLOUT’s privileges include free products, access to exclusive events, big discounts, and even providing travel opportunities for social media users with the greatest influence.
All companies looking to get some exposure from social media users’ content.
It sounds like today’s influencers, doesn’t it?
This is what klout.com looks like January 2012.
By the end of 2012, Microsoft had invested in Klout. Celebrities know their Klout scores, and some even have Klout accounts. Forums such as Quora and Reddit regularly host discussions about KLOUT.
Here I found information about what constitutes a “good” KLOUT score.
What is considered a good KLOUT score?
40 is the average KLOUT score, 50 is a good score, and more than 70 is Amazing, according to A Quora thread discourse.
However, no one can figure out the exact formula for how to calculate the KLOUT score, or even out of reach.
In the Quora thread above, blogger David Fitzsimmons said: “The pretty weird Klout got my score at 61 and said I was an expert in Iceland (never been) and was a mom (I am a male) . Perhaps the strangest thing is that I am a toilet expert.”
(Fitzsimmons’ blog still exists. You can see All subdivisions of his Klout experience There. )
This thick-skinned Business Insider Works in 2011 Break the scoring system more. It seems to have three main components.
Alyson Shontell, author of Business Insider, compared her scores to Justin Bieber’s. At that time, Bieber scored 100 overall.
- Network impact (Bieber 79, Shontell 32)
- Amplification probability (Shontell 43, Bieber 21)
- The true range (Bieber 7.2 million, Shontell 7k)
Shontell’s overall KLOUT score is 59, matching Bieber’s 100.
At that time, no one could believe that Justin Bieber was more influential than anyone else in the world.
Therefore, Klout (Klout) 2012 Forbes article.
At that time, KLOUT scores included not only Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn data. it also Includes data from Google+, Wikipedia, Bing, Instagram and Foursquare.
Violate your klout
At its peak, Klout has 20 million users and a cheating competitor Floutwhich allows you to set the impact score to any desired number.
The spoofing site was created by Pat Nakajima, an employee of GroupMe and Anoop Ranganath, an employee of Foursquare.
If you haven’t felt it yet – I’m sure you have – Klout is controversial. This is a lot of jokes ass.
Still, lithium technology (part of today) is very popular Hollosreceived $200 million from Fernandez on March 27, 2014. This Wayback Machine screenshot 2015Klout looks even more beautiful.
However, sites that are often quarantined and only have a vague understanding last only three years.
Why Klout is closed
Everyone seems to have their own opinion on why Klout is closed. The biggest, and perhaps most accurate, is that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became the law throughout the EU in April 2016.
This regulation applies to any business that may provide or collect data to individuals in the EU.
This basically covers most of the global businesses. GDPR introduces strict rules This requires transparency, accountability and clear user consent to collect and process personal data.
This will make it difficult for businesses to scratch data (even from public platforms like Twitter) without the informed and explicit consent of users.
The official deadline for GDPR compliance is May 25, 2018.
Yes, that’s right: the same day Klout closed.
GDPR was established to solve one problem: the lack of control and protection of personal data in the digital world.
Klout is part of this problem.
If you look back at the most popular era of KLOUT, you will see signs of platform discomfort.
Reddit thread 2012 on R/XKCD, Subreddit for Randall Munroe’s XKCD Webcomic fans, gives you an idea. Munroe link to This comic In the thread.
Under the link to the comics, Redditors wants to know what Klout is. Then, once they find out, they express disdain for the whole idea.
But they also did some digging and excavation Disturbing works of wired in 2012 About Klout.
The article says that in some cases, companies are looking at their potential new hires KLOUT scores before offering employment. Don’t mind their actual work experience.
Then there is part of the quote That 2012 R/XKCD Reddit thread: “Last summer, at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, the secretary asked the guest about his Klout score when checking in. Some of the high scorers did an instant upgrade and sometimes weren’t even told why.”
All these guests know that they even have klout score?
Maybe not.
This is the biggest problem with KLOUT: it is not based on transparency and consent.
My Experience with Klout
Back in 2014, I was trying to start a remote editing business. I created a Twitter account and started posting regularly to promote my service.
A few months later, a friend suggested that I look up my Klout scores and see how I influenced the platform.
I don’t know what Klout is. And I definitely don’t know I’m scored. I remember looking at myself on Klout for the first time and seeing my name beside those big white numbers superimposed on orange.
I felt a vague sense of infraction, like a stranger looking at me in the window while I was at work. Why does this website collect information from my social media? Can anyone look at me and find this Klout score?
I remember pushing this feeling away. I need to work to increase my klout whether I like it or not.
But within a year, my editing business did not escape. I was a substitute teacher at the time and I forgot all about Klout.
Until I sat down and wrote this article.
Now, I’ve come to the conclusion that Klout is closed due to its shaky foundation. No choose Let Klout post scores about you.
According to some users, it is ridiculous to remove yourself and score from klout. What’s worse is that rumored that when Klout notices people trying to quit the score, this doubles the process.
Below 2011 article on how to opt out of Kloutan anonymous commenter wrote: “Thank you. A friend said she was easy to choose, but when I tried to choose my own way, I found that Klout made it more difficult and I gave up. It was a harmful little website……”
Even in the Wild West of the Internet, this shadow is obviously not popular.
As the network continues to explode, lawmakers are finally beginning to realize the real-life impact of weak and outdated Internet privacy laws.
Therefore GDPR. and review of how companies collect, process and use personal data.
The GDPR examples quickly followed many national and global laws.
In short, KLOUT can no longer rely on collecting user data from social media without the user’s consent.
After May 2018, when lithium technology shut down Klout, it never made a comeback.
Klout’s Legacy: Why It Is Important
Despite the controversy, Klout is one of the earliest platforms to measure individual online influence.
It helps us start talking about the meaning of being influential in the digital world. Perhaps most importantly, it early proposed the link between digital influence and its real-world benefits.
As we know today, this almost certainly contributes to the rise of influencers.
That’s because KLOUT has pushed individuals and brands to think seriously about their online engagement. Organizations began to see social media as a place where they had never connected with consumers before.
Even though the idea of ”influencers” seemed odd before Klout, countless brands have taken advantage of it all The power of influencers Years since Klout disappeared.
But Klout’s downfall also shows us what would happen if we tried to sneak into digital impact and privacy. If we try to succeed faster by skipping something as important as getting consent.
They want to be transparent, open and choose whether to participate in something.
Even in a virtual space like the internet.
