LibertasPost

I recently had the opportunity to ask someone from Klout, a company which measures social networking influence, a few questions about their methodology and the potential applications that their work could have on the political process. The following is the lightly-edited result of a brief email back-and-forth:

1) First off, the most basic question of all: what is Klout?

Klout measures influence across the social web. Using its core technology, Klout analyzes social network user data and identifies influential individuals based on the impact of their opinions, links, recommendations and other online content. Klout then provides innovative tools to allow companies, including major brands such as Disney, Audi, Nike and Fox, to interact with and interpret this valuable influencer data. Klout is a privately held company based in San Francisco, Calif.

2) What led founders Joe Fernandez and Binh Tran to start Klout up?

Our CEO and Co-Founder Joe Fernandez had his jaw wired shut for 3 months in 2007. During that time he couldn't talk and became deeply involved in social media as his main mode of communication. He became fascinated with the idea that there was real, measurable influence happening on the social web. Klout was born soon after.

3) Binh Tran wrote in Klout's blog this May about the models that Klout uses to analyze social networking data. Can you maybe delve into this a little further for laymen like myself? How does Klout analyze the reams of information coming out of the myriad of social networking sites?

Binh's post is a great overview of how we do it, but on an even higher level we take in information on social actions such as retweets, @messages, lists, likes, and comments and have an algorithm that ranks influence based on these factors.

4) What applications do you see Klout as having in the political world? Politicians in the United States and Canada have become much more engaged in social networking and media, and political leaders' Klout scores have recently become the subject of some media speculation. Do you see this as a growing trend?

Yes, we do. Politicians are increasingly aware that social media is important in modern-day campaigning. Klout provides a way for them to measure their own success as well as understand who to connect to.

5) Do you think that influence-measuring metrics like Klout will become a part of political election and communication strategies in the future? If not, do you think that they should become part of these strategies?

Yes, I think they will. Politicians can use Klout to pin-point the most influential "every-day" influencers who they should be engaging with.

6) This February, Greg Shove wrote in Advertising Age that the ability of services like Klout to analyze reader participation could be a boon to smaller online publications and a potential stumbling block for larger media organizations with online presences that do not have as much ability to engage their readers. Do you agree with this take? If so, what would your recommendation(s) be to publications – strictly online or otherwise – to boost reader participation and gain online popularity?

Klout can be effective for big or small publications. For bigger publications that can't engage with everyone, Klout helps them prioritize who they should be replying to. For smaller publications Klout can help them take their engagement to the next level and judge what's working.