Because It Is About To Be Forwarded To Me a Million Times

Comments

1. Dominic Snowdon (@ExtraorDom) says:
   May 18, 2012 at 7:38 am

   I must have missed that whatever, since even having read that xkcd I still don’t know what Klout is. Probably for the best.

   In other news, in case you haven’t been informed a thousand times already, some people on reddit (/r/gaming in particular) noticed Lowest Difficulty Setting (I was gonna acronym that but…) on Kotaku and have responded with Strongly Worded Comments!!
2. duskfire says:
   May 18, 2012 at 7:47 am

   Funny you bring this up, because I had just read an article yesterday about how influential Klout seems to be in the minds of some, and whether it is too influential (allegedly affecting hiring decisions! wtf?). I remembered your article, and I’ve actually never come across a mention of Klout anywhere until this new article last night. I must be traveling in the right circles!

   (and apparently Gizmodo now has that XKCD comic up with a brief discussion, too).
3. Valentine Logar says:
   May 18, 2012 at 8:19 am

   I am right behind you! Klout, meh
4. Howard Brazee says:
   May 18, 2012 at 9:09 am

   While I read all of your blogs, and of Stross, I skip over anything that looks like social media. Or maybe my eyes glaze over.

   I’m old enough that it won’t matter to me that I don’t have virtual friends following everything I’m doing – but I am fascinated about predictions on how the future will be – compared to what we used to predict.

   So much fiction is based upon not being in ubiquitous connectivity with any source of information.
5. allisonmonkey says:
   May 18, 2012 at 9:36 am

   <3 xkcd. </3 Klout. Who needs another reason to criticize themselves?
6. Frankly says:
   May 18, 2012 at 9:38 am

   Add me to the list of out of it geezers who only know of klout from your earlier posting. OTOH I just asked a couple of my young hip co-workers & one never heard of it & the other had only heard of it but knew nothing about it

   Klout is for klowns I guess
7. Patrick says:
   May 18, 2012 at 9:39 am

   So, I am supposed to forward this to you? Should I send you a copy in email and also link you to it on twitter?
8. Matt McIrvin says:
   May 18, 2012 at 9:40 am

   This cartoon was my first exposure to Klout

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0huJJfeMSQ8

   and at the time I wasn’t aware that Klout was real, as opposed to a generic name for a parody of this kind of thing.
9. Charissa says:
   May 18, 2012 at 10:30 am

   I also recall reading an article (linked at bottom) that was kind of terrifying. It starts with an example of someone losing out on a job for a senior position based on his Klout score (despite years of industry experience, etc.) and how companies everywhere are apparently on the lookout for those unpaid corporate shills that have a high Klout score for all sorts of perks & upgrades. It’s from Wired, so take it for what it’s worth, but when social media starts affecting your employment beyond when you say something dumb about your employer on Facebook/Twitter, something is seriously wrong.

   http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/ff_klout/all/1
10. Angeline says:
    May 18, 2012 at 10:34 am

    Well, there’s always this: http://klouchebag.com/ – “The standard for asshattery”!
11. windwhale says:
    May 18, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    For those who care to read it, Wired recently did an interesting article on Klout:

    http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/ff_klout/all/1

    I find the people who care about such stuff somewhere between sad and hilarious. Salarious? I think that’s Saturn’s 89th moon, though.
12. archergal says:
    May 18, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    Anybody else think of Doctorow’s whuffie when they read about things like Klout? That sounds kinda horrible to me to.

    But I’m a shy and fainting flower who never gets noticed anyway. Folks like me would starve. :(
13. ZBBMcFate says:
    May 18, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    I left similar instructions with college buddies involving my ever retuning to reunions sporting a comb-over. “You have permission to shoot me, because I would have clearly lost touch with reality”.

    I don’t _think_ they would do it. Still, as the follicles have staged a slow but steady retreat over the years, it’s been nice to have an extra incentive to avoid that dark path.
14. Shawn T says:
    May 18, 2012 at 4:06 pm

    The pop up text has Mr Munroe asking that we make sure
    it _is_ him and not just one of his friends trying to get him
    punched.
    Ah, friends.
15. ennekube says:
    May 18, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    Is it sad my first reaction was “Huh? What is Klout?”
16. Bill Stewart says:
    May 18, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    Klout in the business of monetizing your ego by getting you to monetize your friends for them. Don’t be that guy! If you can’t get a particular job because you don’t have a high enough Klout score, it’s probably a job you wouldn’t have liked anyway, unless you’re that kind of person.

    On the other hand, if there’s a good job at a company where only the HR department are the kinds of people who respect Klout, it’s apparently possible to buy influence and followers, or you can create your own robot army of syncophants like my friend @shillmoreklout (Actually, Shillmore’s going to go a bit slowly on this, because Twitter spanked him for being overaggressive, but @robotsyncophant already has a follower :-)
17. Lurkertype says:
    May 18, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    Klout is apparently another word for e-peen.

    I missed the earlier article, but have now found that my Scalzi Number is 6. Which is 6 more than my Klout score.

    You don’t know me, man!
18. turtlesong says:
    May 18, 2012 at 7:34 pm

    does the offer to point and laugh at people who have friendster still apply? i’d like to point two people your way if it does. :)
19. Shawn T says:
    May 18, 2012 at 8:17 pm

    @ennekube May 18, 2012 at 5:01 pm:
    No.
    @turtlesong:
    Friendster. Huh. The word sounds familiar, but
    I’m drawing a blank.
    ;p
20. Matthew Gray says:
    May 18, 2012 at 11:29 pm

    :D je l’aime
21. Xtifr says:
    May 19, 2012 at 6:35 am

    WIth the Scalzi number, you can actually have a complex result (6+xi). Beat that, Klout! :)
22. Sarah says:
    May 20, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    My first thought on looking up Klout was “oh, it’s like Whuffie with no connection to RL.” Now I’m starting to think it’s like Whuffie for the wrong things.

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