Klout has just started rolling out a completely new system for measuring influence. The new interface has already begun updating scores for many users, based on a different set of criteria that mixes online influence with real-world influence. The site has also begun adding some new features that let users see their most influential posts and topics.
Previously, Klout only accounted for things like number of friends on Facebook and number of retweets on Twitter when calculating influence. But now a user’s Klout score goes beyond that to include things like job titles from LinkedIn and the importance of that user’s Wikipedia page.
In addition, +K’s from other users now impact Klout scores, whereas before they only influenced that user’s influential topics.
The old factors like Facebook friends and Twitter followers still count when calculating Klout scores, but now they’re just balanced against some new factors. Klout takes into account factors from Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Wikipedia, Instagram and more.
The site has also introduced a new feature called “Klout Moments” that showcases a user’s most influential tweets and posts from the last 90 days. For companies that use social media for promotion, measuring influence using a service like Klout can help to determine what types of posts work and what types of posts don’t.
With the new Klout interface, companies can specifically see what posts are the most influential and what people are most influenced by them.
Old features like True Reach, Amplification, and Network impact scores have been removed in order to make room for Klout Moments. Moments are available for some users now and the rest will begin to see the new feature within the next few weeks.
Klout also has a few new features currently in the works, including more networks like YouTube and Tumblr, and an enhanced topics system.
At last Klout is starting to look useful. Thanks for the update
Thx for the update.
I’ve also noticed in the “klout influencer comparison” (side bar chart titled network of influence) (possibly the one chart that could be informative on individual styles) – that there is a measurement for klout now. I’m not exactly sure how one would use klout as a network of influence unless they are considering the +k activity.