You will no longer be able to throw your Klout score around… did anyone really do that?
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Klout is out—social media mojo-ranking service to shutter
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Comparing some company/technology to Black Mirror has been done so many times that it's becoming a cliche, but Klout was one time where the analogy really fit. The thought that you might not be hired somewhere because you didn't tweet at enough influencers chilled my blood.
Good riddance indeed.
Good riddance indeed.
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My only previous encounter with it was the xkcd comic about it - https://xkcd.com/1057/
So good riddance.
So good riddance.
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I'd never heard of Klout until today, but it sounds absolutely foul. Don't let the internet-door hit you in the ass on your way out.
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Totally. I saw another article about it today, and thought that it was actually that hilariously ill-conceived social media company that came up with the idea of being able to rate other people, like Yelp. They seemed genuinely confused when there was a backlash over the idea that someone could publicly rate you, without your blessing.
Did that one ever get off the ground? I know they decided to only collect ratings on willing participants, but that was an amazing example of the entire internet saying "NO!" in one unified voice.
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Or you mean like The Orville episode 7, "Majority Rule". Basically the entire planet is one giant thumbs up/down, with actual consequences. Such as being put to death if enough people downvote you.
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This is the second time I've ever heard anyone mention Klout. The first time was when they launched.
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I've had a few people in my life who a) had Klout b) kept track and c) were proud of it.
I was embarrassed on their behalf.
I was embarrassed on their behalf.
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Wow, I thought I had a fairly comprehensive list of social media sites to hate, but this one wasn't even on my radar. The thing where they explicitly set up accounts for people who have never used the service is one of my social media dystopia warning signs. At least facebook, as big a bunch of shitheels as they are, didn't actually CONFIRM that they set up shadow accounts for FOAFs.
Now that it's being shuttered and sold, it's going to be a data mining goldmine. Expect all sorts of KLOUT specific spam and ad-stalking.
Now that it's being shuttered and sold, it's going to be a data mining goldmine. Expect all sorts of KLOUT specific spam and ad-stalking.
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They weren't actually your friends or anything, were they? If they were family, well, you're kinda stuck with them anyway, sorry.
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Guess their own score on Klout was too low to justify their continued existence...?
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Didn't know Klout existed, won't miss it the slightest. The next thing that needs to go are data gathering sites like "mylife.com" that are nearly impossible to opt out of. I don't want my address history so easily found. It's worse for my wife, who is a doctor and sometimes has crazy patients that I don't want to get a visit from.
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Good riddance.
It still boggles my mind that there were people using it, and they got VC money at all.
It still boggles my mind that there were people using it, and they got VC money at all.
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In all these years I have never heard of Klout (thank god), but I am stunned that this little part hasn't created a visible public controversy. On the face of it, it has all the ingredients of a situation that the Manufactured Outrage Machine craves for.
Edit to Clarify: situations like this DESERVE to have the Manufactured Outrage Machine™ pointed at it and I wish it was me pulling the trigger.
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Makes me wish I had the sort of access, privilege, etc to be able to pitch an awful idea and get paid $100 million for it.
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That could be a new business... selling bootleg Klout. We'll never know now. Le Sigh...
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Where else will I go when I want to bro down and crush code?
edit:
For fuck sake what the fuck is with the downvotes?
Do you people not know anything?!
Seriously, people..
http://jonathonhill.net/wp-content/uplo ... rodown.jpg
edit:
For fuck sake what the fuck is with the downvotes?
Do you people not know anything?!
Seriously, people..
http://jonathonhill.net/wp-content/uplo ... rodown.jpg
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While I don't know anyone who signed up for Klout who might have been mined for contacts to create automatic accounts for them, how would one go about figuring out if they were a victim of Internet Herpes?
I mean, once upon a time I had a Facebook account, and I think I even had a Twitter account. But both are gone now. I couldn't sign in with either (which is the default way to log in, apparently).
How does one go about finding that out (just for the sake of curiosity, if not the motivation for some righteous indignation)?
I mean, once upon a time I had a Facebook account, and I think I even had a Twitter account. But both are gone now. I couldn't sign in with either (which is the default way to log in, apparently).
How does one go about finding that out (just for the sake of curiosity, if not the motivation for some righteous indignation)?
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Was thinking about this company literally last week while someone was describing a Black Mirror episode they just watched. Flashed back to 2011/12 when I read that this was the "next big thing" and was immediately terrified of that potential future.
Good riddance.
Good riddance.
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Back in the day I wrote an Opera speed dial extension that showed your Klout score in real-ish time The whole thing was SVG---very high tech in the days when IE6 was still very common. There was also a companion extension to insert Klout scores into your Twitter timeline.
I found the whole idea of Klout extremely pointless, but, hey, I was getting paid. Klout more than anything else might be what soured me on social media, now that I think about it.
I found the whole idea of Klout extremely pointless, but, hey, I was getting paid. Klout more than anything else might be what soured me on social media, now that I think about it.
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Not true! The people probably most susceptible to believing that Klout is a good idea would likely be the ones least likely to ever find out that it no longer exists!
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Well ... if he just so happened to appear within any of their respective contact lists (regardless of whether they were friends OR family) grahamwilliams may himself be Packin' Klout! Heck ... anyone of us may be Packin' Klout! without our direct knowledge as a result of the Herpes Handshake™ that Charlie Stross made reference to above!
(Gosh ... Maybe we need a "CDC" style hotline/website that enables us to check on our status. Or site creators could opt for the "Equifax" style of website, where they could try to sell us stuff, while being sure to leave it unsecured so that we become infected if we aren't already!)
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