Are You Worthy? Welcome to the New Klout

Will companies check this out?

How influential are you?

Klout, a San Francisco company that aggregates your follows, retweets, and 398 other factors, has  a new way to rate your influence.  A new redesigned website made its debut today, and while lots of people in the Twittersphere are talking about it ("Look, I just jumped by ten points"), the question remains: Is it worth anything to have a good Klout score?

My short answer is yes. Companies may not be willing to admit it yet, but if they're checking to see how popular and prolific you are on other social media sites, why not Klout? It's already being used by companies to shell out "perks," and this is just getting started. Recently, Chevrolet offered reporters with certain Klout scores a chance to roll in a Volt for a while.  Not a bad perk.

According to Klout CEO Joe Fernandez, the company will rate your influence on a scale of 1-100. Under the new algorithm, President Obama scores a 99. Justin Bieber, for purposes of comparison, rates a 91. In the spirit of disclosure, I check in at 63. I honestly am not sure what it means yet, but am very intrigued, and it was thoughtful of Chevy to offer up the Volt (more discplosure: I declined the ride).

Yes, there is something somewhat ego-centric about even checking - not to mention worrying about - your Klout score. But fast-forward a bit in time, and it may really be the way to help find the job for you, and help employers see where your skills are. Give it time, and even the Twittersphere may be talking about Klout with more admiration, and a litte less snark.

Scott can be tracked on Twitter: @scottbudman

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