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Beyond Klout: Measuring influence on Social Media

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Measure influence on redes sociais is becoming an increasingly sophisticated process. Perhaps because it appeared on the market very early, Klout appeared in many of the main titles on the subject. However, we believe that there are better approaches, and that they do not necessarily involve a numerical result.

One of the best reputation measurement tools we use is Topsy. Ever since Google failed to renew its agreement to include real-time tweets in search results, we've been trying to find a way to figure out who's tweeting and sharing our stories.

Twitter reveals less information than we want, and Klout is always obsessed with giving you a numerical result, without great details about what is happening. As we continued searching, we found Topsy.

If you produce content and want to know who shares it, this is a tool for you. Topsy analyzes each person's influence by measuring the attention and support they receive on social media. Its algorithm analyzes topics, sentiments, geolocations and conversations across redes sociais public.

If your content is frequently tweeted and followed by other influential people, you will definitely gain influence. And what may be mere curiosity for the average Facebook user is potentially significant data for companies and their businesses. Influence results are then used to pull out the most important results and show consumers who are the top influencers for their favorite brand or topic.

The Anti-Klout

Unlike Klout, Topsy does not rely on a single “score” to define its influence on redes sociais – a model that many experts see as nothing less than scientific. Instead, it uses an internal ranking based on how and who shares your content. This ranking determines whether or not you are considered influential.

Unlike Klout which allows, and practically encourages, users to “cheat” the system by offering the ability to give +1s to what the site considers influential topics, Topsy does not allow users to explicitly vote on someone's influence.

Perhaps Topsy's biggest point of interest is what it doesn't do: the service doesn't reveal “scores”. This “score”, simple and easy to understand, is Klout’s biggest selling point, but also its biggest weakness. Obsessing over this simple number can quickly become addictive, separating itself from genuine social influence.

Other influential ranking sites redes sociais, like Kred or PROskore, also use variations of the Klout model. Kred's creators say it focuses on measuring influence based on trust and generosity. The words seem rosy, but it's hard to see if we should trust them.

On the other hand, PROskore says it measures influence based on an individual's professional reputation. In relation to this, the website describes it as professional relationships and even popularity. Yes. Whatever your field of activity, we never left high school. Life is still a popularity contest.

Or several different popularity contests. With all these “scores” of influence on redes sociais, it is impossible to know which one gives us the most reliable result. That's why we prefer to stay away from these types of services and trust Topsy.

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