An article was just recently written in Business Insider about how Klout has been struggling this year. Some businesses do not go through those “growing pains” or “adolescence” which is the exception, not the rule which was noted in the article like Facebook and Twitter. However, with Klout, it has been a completely different story.

The fact that Klout’s purpose to rank any individual’s influence has always been controversial by giving people scores based on their social media activities. It is understandable that it would be. I personally think the idea is brilliant, and I know of many others are with me on this. One major reason I have always been a supporter of Klout. However, because the issue is undeniably a touchy one, ranking must be done very carefully in order for it to mean anything and Klout has made some major mistakes along the way. And because this concept is a new one, it is expected that Klout would not get it right on the first, or second or even third attempt.

For a while it was very easy to game Klout however they are getting a much better handle on that. In fact if there is blatant gaming suspected, you will be penalized. That being said they have made strides. Also, receiving social interaction on complete meaningless content all the time does not mean you are influential in anyway. Klout is also working on ways to correct this. Klout is looking beyond social media activity alone for making an impact on the score such as whether you have a Wikipedia page, or if there are strong articles written by or about you that are found through Bing (why Bing? Microsoft invested in Klout last year), as well as other factors they are working on.

If you are a business owner, how many snags have you come across, especially right after starting out or implementing a new idea for it? This is what has happened to Klout. Even though they are struggling and having to go through a lot of “soul searching” right now, they have come very far since they were established in 2008, and regardless of whether they are having a tough time or not, the Klout score is being looked at by employers looking to hire for marketing related jobs; many times you will receive better customer service if your score is higher as I did when I had a negative experience at the hotel I stayed at in Vancouver this past summer; you may get price breaks, upgrades, freebies, etc.

Having a high Klout score is a definite attention grabber, and once Klout is able find strong solutions to the issues they are facing, they will really rock. I am and will always be a believer in what they are doing and they will get it in time.