Should You Hire Based on Klout Scores?

If you haven't heard of Klout, it's the latest in metrics on the social engagement levels of a brand or person. Klout claims to measure social impact and provides a scoring system that can be used to identify heavy hitters on social media. While some argue that Klout's formula is a relatively useless measure of social engagement (see Klouchebag.com), others are proposing that not only is it accurate enough to really measure a level of engagement, but that it should be a factor in the hiring process. Marketing execs at top agencies tend to have higher Klout scores than those at less well-known agencies, argues Mashable. Hiring those with high Klout scores may mean that you get someone who understands social media well and is prepared to make an impact with it. Here's a question, though - are the do the top agencies' execs have high Klout scores because they are affiliated with top ad agencies, or because their own merits got them there? What about agencies that aren't on the list? Until a few more questions have been answered about the validity of the Klout score, there's no need to be too worried about your own.

Would you use a Klout score to help you determine an ideal candidate for a position at your company?

The New Standard for Twitter Abuse

You may be familiar with Klout. Klout assigns a score to each user based on their social media presence, ranging from 0 to 100, to try to measure how influential they are. But is any of Klout's information valid or meaningful?

It seems that Klouchebag would argue that no, it isn't, and that in fact Klout's numbers "are pretty much a crapshoot." Klouchebag is a sharp and sarcastic commentary on Klout's clout that calls itself "The New Standard for Asshattery" and uses a measurement it calls the ARSE (Anger, Retweet Abuse, Social Apps, English Misuse) rating system to determine how much a twitter user is abusing their tweeting powers. While it doesn't cover all of the social media tools that Klout claims to take their measurements from, and it doesn't claim to be completely accurate, it does provide a lot of viral entertainment value. Plus, it's a great resume builder for Tom Scott, its creator, who mentions at the bottom of his page that yes, he is looking for work.

What do you think of Klout? Do you think that Klout ratings carry importance online, or that Klout ratings don't carry much weight?