Selected items of interest to the media community
• Klout Scores Affect Free Upgrades, Goods, And Employment Prospects
August 18, 2012
The social media tracking company Klout provides a score for anyone with a Twitter account, unless you opt out on the Klout website. Justin Bieber has a perfect Klout score of 100, which means he is considered the most influential user of social media. When he tweets that he likes a certain soft drink, or snack food, or any other consumer good or service, millions of followers can be influenced. Many companies offer free goods and services to people with high Klout scores, and some companies even use it to guide hiring decisions.
Wired (link here) has some examples of companies that are using Klout scores as part of daily business.
But even if you have no idea what your Klout score is, there’s a chance that it’s already affecting your life. At the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas last summer, clerks surreptitiously looked up guests’ Klout scores as they checked in. Some high scorers received instant room upgrades, sometimes without even being told why. According to Greg Cannon, the Palms’ former director of ecommerce, the initiative stirred up tremendous online buzz. He says that before its Klout experiment, the Palms had only the 17th-largest social-networking following among Las Vegas-based hotel-casinos. Afterward, it jumped up to third on Facebook and has one of the highest Klout scores among its peers.