The Joe Fernandez Interview: Klout CEO Says “Be Engaging and Be Consistent”
February 14, 2011 by Julito Varela
Klout, the brainchild of its Co-Founder and CEO Joe Fernandez, is one hot social media company. Last month, the San Francisco-based social media influence service snagged another $8.5 million in additional funding, and when it announced that Justin Bieber was the most influential social media profile of 2010, it caused a mini-controversy.
JOE FERNANDEZ, Klout CEO and Co-Founder
To say that Klout is causing an obsession with Twitter profiles is an understatement. We think that it has turned a bit crazy, and we wanted to talk with Fernandez about it, as well as Latino social media influence in general. So, we tweeted Joe and he was kind enough to take our questions via email. (PSST: Sort of confirms that Klout really is what social media is all about.)
JRV: What is the biggest misperception about Klout that you share with people? Why do you think it is a misperception?
JOE FERNANDEZ: The difference between online influence and overall influence generates a lot of questions. When we named Justin Bieber as the most influential person of 2010 it caused major uproar. The data proves out that Bieber generates major engagement. That’s not to say he has offline power to match someone like Obama. The other thing people don’t realize about Klout is that we measure influence at the topic level for all of our users.
JRV: What are the characteristics of a social media profile with a solid Klout score? As a follow-up, what is a strong Klout score?
JOE FERNANDEZ: Any score over 30 is pretty strong. What you’ll find with people who have high Klout scores is that they are consistent and engaging.
JRV: Has Klout just become a social media popularity contest?
JOE FERNANDEZ: When you put a score next to people it’s impossible for it not to get competitive. We believe that every person that creates content online has influence. Our goal is to understand who they influence and on what topics.
JRV: Recent reports indicate that the Latino demographic on social media networks is the fastest-growing group when compared to other demographics. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why or why not?
JOE FERNANDEZ: From our data and seeing the amount of activity coming out of Latin America I definitely agree
JRV: Do the total number of profiles registered on Klout reflect the current percentage of Latinos online? That is, does Klout reflect what is being said about Latino consumption of social media? Is it a place where Latinos flock to? Share your thoughts about this.
JOE FERNANDEZ: We have had great support from Latinos. Brazil and Mexico particularly have adopted Klout.
JRV: Any other advice you would give to social media profiles that they might not hear on a regular basis?
JOE FERNANDEZ: There are no shortcuts. You have to be yourself, be interesting, be engaging and be consistent.
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Franky Benítez 
Very interesting. I’d love to read more about Latinos on social media, Twitter & Facebook especially. Thanks for posting this.
You are welcome!
Quora unveiled: talk more…about anything…score goes up; talk with people less, score goes down.
*Klout (I was just posting something on Quora and it stuck in my head).
Interesting. Quora suxs in my opinion. I tried it for one month and not thrilled with it.