Klout, a startup that measures influence on Twitter, is expanding its horizons today with the launch of BirdBrain, a new feature that allows you to measure influence using data from both Facebook and Twitter.
BirdBrain uses Facebook connect to look at the interests listed on a user’s profile and then uses that data to search for the most influential people on Twitter, based on interests. Klout, which recently released a new API, evaluates Twitter users’ behavior with complex ranking algorithms and semantic analysis of content to measure the influence of individuals and topics around the web.
The premise for this specific development is based on Klout’s belief that Twitter’s suggested user list is flawed. The buckets they use, says Klout, are simply too big. BirdBrain uses Facebook Connect to evaluate your interests, and will mashup that data up with Tweets from Twitter users with terms associated with those interests. For example, if you list the TV show Lost as an interest on your Facebook profile, Klout will search for users Tweeting about the latest smoke, or polar bear conspiracies. And Klout breaks down the influencers onTwitter by the type of influencer they are. For example, a person might be a “chatterbox” which means they like chit chat about the topic on the network while another type of influencer might be a “curator,” who simply sends out the best content.
BirdBrain is part of Klout’s newly launched Labs section, which will experiment with products that assess influence based on the interaction within social networks, beyond just Twitter. Of course, BirdBrain represents Klout’s first data foray outside of the Twitter-sphere. Klout’s CEO Joe Fernandez says that this is a sneak-peak into the startup’s eventual movement to cross-platform influencer data. Considering that Twitter is looking to build its own powerful analytics platform, it’s probably wise for Klout, which just raised $1.5 million in funding, to look for ways to offer innovative technologies that combine both data from Facebook and Twitter.
