Interview with Klout CEO and Co-Founder Joe Fernandez

There has been quite a bit of buzz (and questions) around the parent blogosphere regarding Klout recently. The recent algorithm change in particular sparked some of this, and I have heard many bloggers question how Klout works and calculates scores. In fact, when we had a poll at Type-A Parent last month about Klout, 86 percent felt the scores were either inaccurate some of the time or completely inaccurate (see the results here). I contacted Klout CEO and Co-Founder Joe Fernandez @joefernandez about an interview, and below is the Q&A.

I have my own thoughts and opinions about his answers. (For example, his answer to the first question regarding “greater context around actions” I think is very telling regarding many highly influential and engaged mom bloggers seeing a big score drop with the new algorithm. Personally, I don’t think that change was a good one for accurately reflecting influence). I would prefer to hear your thoughts and reactions to the Q&A in the comments, however.

Klout CEO and Co-Founder Joe Fernandez

QUESTION: What specifically was changed in the way scores are calculated with the new algorithm?

ANSWER:The major changes in this release were:

• Greater equality of networks. In our prior model, the main driver of your Klout was a primary network (the one you’re best on) and your influence on secondary networks was too small a part of your Score. Now, a person who has two networks that are fairly equal in terms of participation and influence, say Facebook and Foursquare, will see a greater parity in the way we score those two. Of course, you may have a greater potential to be influential on a bigger network like Twitter or YouTube, but given you’re influencing the same people in the same way, each network would have the same impact on your Score.
• Greater context around actions. In our previous model, we considered the action taken and the influence level of the person giving it. With this new release, we’ve added in the context of the person giving it. If you only give out one Facebook “Like” a week and you choose to do so to my content, that is much more meaningful than if you “Like” 50 times a day. We are taking this into account in our improved algorithm so we better understand and give you credit for how much you influence someone. This did result in lower Scores for those that are frequently engaged with by high-activity users, but we feel this is an overall improvement in accuracy.
• Stability and consistency. Seeing the ebb and flow of your influence on a daily basis is helpful, but we also understand that your influence rarely makes huge jumps in such a short time period. Our new algorithm makes the Klout Score more stable and takes a longer window of time (90 instead of 30 days) into account when measuring your influence.

Q: It seemed as though mom bloggers in particular were hit hard with the new algorithm. Many who I know saw dramatic drops of ten points or more, yet the announcement said most people in Klout had scores that remained level or increased. Did the change affect mom bloggers more than other niches in blogging and social media? If so, why?

A: While 53% did see their Score stay the same or go up, the greater context around actions and equality of networks impacted those in the top echelon of Scores the most, particularly those who have a big presence on Twitter. Many mom bloggers fall into this category.

Q: Can you explain the parity between accounts that are clearly not on the same level influence-wise? For example, I have seen Klout profiles for very low activity Twitter accounts (with about 500 to 1,000 followers and no other social networks pulled in) who have just four points less than mine, and I am very active with almost 30,000 followers as well as multiple networks pulled in.

A: We believe influence is about the ability to drive action, not follower account. Some accounts with a small number of followers can have a very tightly engaged and influential network. If you point us to specific examples we’re happy to comment further.

Q: What factors are used to calculate a person’s Klout score? For example, which social networks are used and which actions (likes, retweets, replies, etc.) are used in the calculation of the scores? Are the number of followers and friends used in the data, or are the ratio of followers to those you follow a factor as well?

A:  Here are a few of the actions we use to measure influence:

• Twitter: Retweets and Mentions
• Facebook: Comments, Wall-Posts, Likes
• LinkedIn: Comments, Likes
• Foursquare: Tips, To-Do’s, Done
• Google+: Comments, Reshares, +1

Other networks that we’re working to measure are Facebook Pages, Youtube, Instagram,Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, Last.fm and Flickr. You can already link these accounts with your Klout profile, and we look forward to incorporating your activity from these networks to our score soon.

Q: What are the three factors that carry the most weight and significance in the calculation of Klout scores?

A: We use a “PeopleRank” model to determine Klout Scores similar to Google PageRank. Individual factors do not have a constant weight in this model — in general we look at your ability to drive action rather than shallow metrics like follower count or friend count.

Q: With emphasis given to things like retweets (I believe), how is Klout addressing anomalies like, for example, Triberr that will inflate a person’s volume of retweets but not accurately reflect their influence?

A: We look at all actions in the context of the person giving them in order to better understand their contribution to your influence.

Q: What is the delay in data being pulled in and applied to a person’s Klout score and profile? For example, I joined Google+ immediately and pulled it into my Klout profile as soon as that was an option, however it shows no activity in Google+ in my profile despite being quite active there with many comments, reshares and so on. As another example, I see people who are influenced by me who I haven’t actively talked to in a while. What is the exact lag time?

A: When we add new networks to Klout there is a normalization period where we analyze the data but do not publish a score. This can last from a few days to a few months. Google+ is now live.

In terms of the who you influence, it changes every week. You may still show up on someone’s list that you haven’t talked to them for a while if no one else has talked to them either (you were the last person to influence them).

Q: There are people who have multiple profiles on various social networks, such as more than one Twitter account. There are also people who have pages on Facebook and Google as well as personal profiles. If someone is active on multiple levels on the main social networks, counting just one profile can be misleading regarding their influence. Are there plans to allow multiple profiles and pages as well as personal profiles in Klout profiles? If so, do you know when?

A: We do have a plan to address this in 2012 and for business accounts you should be able to aggregate multiple profiles in the relatively near future.

Q: Are there any plans to pull in data from blogs, such as feed subscribers, newsletter subscribers, traffic or comments?

A: We definitely see blogs as a very relevant data source and have already added WordPress, tumblr, and Blogger to the system. There is a ton more we intend to do here though.

Q: I know you mentioned that +K does not get calculated for Klout scores, but it is used to determine topic relevance for profiles. What benefits are there to getting +K and why should people give out and seek +K, especially with topics being set by Klout and no ability to add new topics to a person’s profile?

A: Giving +K is a great way to recognize someone who influences you. While these don’t currently impact your score there is a plan to do so. You can now add topics to any profile.

Q: If someone has a concern or sees an issue with their Klout profile or score (such as data not appearing to update), what is the best way for them to get it addressed? Is it emailing, tweeting or another method?

A: The best thing is to email help at klout dot com.

Q: What can we expect to see for the next big changes at Klout?

A: Our entire focus right now is on the accuracy and transparency of the Score. We want to help you understand what your Score means, why it changes, and how to improve it.

What do you think? Did his explanations give you a better understanding of how Klout scores are determined? Do you agree with the methodology? Do you have any questions I didn’t ask? Please comment below.

Related posts:

1. Klout vs. Kred
2. Talk of the Blogosphere Cash and Klout Edition
3. My Type-A Mom Interview at LuckyStartups.com
4. Interview with Amy of Amalah
5. Guy Kawasaki Interview on Newspapers at Alltop