Unless you have been living under a rock or took a week long vacation, there has been quite the uproar over the past week with Klout scores changing dramatically with the introduction of the new algorithm. According to Klout, these changes will being about “A more Accurate, Transparent Klout score.” It will be interesting to see what that really means but one thing is for sure, some people’s scores changed ALOT, and some people are either very happy or very mad.

Unfortunately,  I didnt even know the Klout scores changed until I saw twitter absolutely blowing up with angry people. This is because my score didnt go up or down. How boring is that? I mean at least east let me go up or down 1 point so I can either complain/cheer with everyone else. But no. I had to just listen to the endless nonsense from everyone else. Aside from what everyone else thinks about their scores, I think we should be considering a much bigger question, What is the role of Klout scores?

Essentially they mean nothing. Some company just gives you some score based on how influential you are in the social media world. Who gives a s*** right? Certainly that’s how some people feel. But for others, Klout has evolved into something much more than just a fun score. For some it means getting hired or not. And that is  certainly a reason for people to start caring. You see, if Klout becomes large enough and people actually put their trust in their system, then Klout scores will be the future of HR.

Think about it this way, if you were hiring for a marketing position, and you could see the Klout scores associated with your candidates wouldn’t that help you understand better who to hire? Every resume you might read people will tell you they are skilled at digital marketing, social media, SEO, and etc. But you and I both know thats BS. Anyone can say that. But if you could really see if they are what they say they are with their Klout scores, now that’s a different story.Then Klout scores will really have real meaning and certainly real value. My guess is that if Klout scores become as meaningful as they are on pace to be coming, Look for somebody like LinkedIn to maybe buy them and incorporate these scores into the site. Now that would make HR much more efficient!

The downside of all of this is, Do we really want this company to have that much power over hiring? Can we trust that they really are showing us who is really a better candidate? Is their algorithm better than the others in this area such as Peer Index? Certainly it would make for some good debate!

What do you think ?