Klout Previews Topic Pages, Influencers Will Get First Access of Course

Klout is creating topic pages that will show the most influential content, influencers of that topic and the latest activity.

The beta will launch in September, but those who get the most people signed up for the beta will get even earlier access. Registered Klout users can already give and receive +K for topics Klout says they influence.

UPDATE [11:30am PDT, 8/18/11 ] Chris Makarsky, Klout's director of product, told LAUNCH by email that Klout will launch topic pages "for the majority" of topics they track for individual influence.

Regarding how Klout will determine influential content, Chris explains, "We take the influence of both parties, including their influence within the topic itself, and the types of interaction signals into account." [ see below for full Q&A with Chris. ]

On "This Week in Startups" in June, CEO and co-founder Joe Fernandez said that determining someone's Klout on a topic "on any given tweet it can be hit and miss, but we look at so much content over time that eventually it filters up." [ Watch the clip. ]

As social media Chris Rauschnot explains in his Huffington Post piece, "Klout would like to be the destination for influencer lists, thus creating more on-website traffic and a place for brands to identify their biggest supporters."

LAUNCH Q&A with Chris Makarsky, Director of Product for Klout

Why is Klout doing topic pages?
Chris Makarsky: The ability to dig deeper into topics is consistently one of the most requested features.
Klout has always displayed what topics we think you're influential about, but users also want to be able to easily see other top influencers in a given topic, see the most influential content, and general activity surrounding that topic.

What kind of topics will you focus on first?
CM: We'll launch pages for the majority of our topics. Granted, some topics will contain more content than others, but we plan to continue growing both the analysis for existing topics, and the overall breadth of topics in our system.

Who is the intended audience for Klout topic pages?
CM: Topic pages are intended for the entire Klout audience -- anyone who finds value or novelty in their Klout score will likely find our topic pages to be a great addition to our product.

How will Klout determine the most influential content?
CM: Influential content is based who you're influencing, and to what degree. We take the influence of both parties, including their influence within the topic itself, and the types of interaction signals into account.


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