Klout

Klout
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Social Networking
Available inEnglish
Headquarters,
United States
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerLithium Technologies
Founder(s)Joe Fernandez
Binh Tran
Key peopleJoe Fernandez (CEO)
Emil Michael (COO)
URLklout.com
AdvertisingNo
RegistrationOptional
Launched2008
Current statusClosed

Klout was a website and mobile app that used social media analytics to rate its users according to online social influence via the "Klout Score", which was a numerical value between 1 and 100. In determining the user score, Klout measured the size of a user's social media network and correlated the content created to measure how other users interact with that content.[1] Klout launched in 2008.[2]

Lithium Technologies, who acquired the site in March 2014, closed the service on May 25, 2018,[3][4] the same day the European General Data Protection Regulation came into force.[5]

Klout used Bing, Facebook, Foursquare, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn (individuals' pages, not corporate/business), Twitter (now X), Wikipedia, and YouTube[citation needed] data to create Klout user profiles that were assigned a "Klout Score".[6][7] Klout scores ranged from 1 to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a higher ranking of the breadth and strength of one's online social influence. While all Twitter users were assigned a score, users who registered at Klout could link multiple social networks, of which network data was then aggregated to influence the user's Klout Score.

  1. ^ Lauren Fisher (July 20, 2010). "How can you measure influence?". Simply Zesty. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  2. ^ "About Klout". Archived from the original on April 18, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  3. ^ "Klout is shutting down, so your score REALLY doesn't matter now". May 10, 2018.
  4. ^ "Klout is now kaput". May 25, 2018.
  5. ^ Oremus, Will (May 10, 2018). "Klout Is Shutting Down Just In Time to Not Reveal How Much It Knew About Us". Slate. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  6. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions | Klout". Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. How does adding new networks on Klout impact my Score? | [...] Klout currently incorporates data from Facebook profiles, Twitter, Google+ personal profiles, LinkedIn, foursquare, Klout, and Wikipedia into the Klout Score.
  7. ^ Anthony Ha (March 28, 2013). "Klout Users Can Now Add Bing To Their Account And Include Instagram In Their Score". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 28, 2013.