When Klout changed its algorithm a few weeks ago (the so-called “Kloutapocalypse”, I’m still laughing out loud), it was like the Armageddon was on us. The end of the world. Even Bruce Willis could not save us. The numerous, vehement and even violent reactions we all read in our timelines, news feeds and others made me either want to cry or laugh (I chose to laugh and almost got a spleen rupture doing so). I mean, come on. Yeah, your Klout score dropped a few points and it’s more complicated now to make it higher. So what? It’s not the end of the world. Quite the contrary!

Ok I admit, even though it has nothing to do with the “why” and “what” of the changes, their “how” is still a bit foggy to me. When I’m very engaged and actively mentioned or retweeted, my Klout score drops. But when I’m offline – cause, yeah, Social Media marketers also have, sometimes, an offline life – and my social media activity is kept to the minimum with some automated tweets and no interaction, it goes higher. Go figure!

Still, even though I have no idea how the new Klout algorithm works, I saw and still see this change as a positive one – yeah, even though I lost 20 points (I was at almost 70 points and all of a sudden I find myself struggling to maintain myself above 50). Because I think it is a change for the better, and I’m not the only one. In short, for many including me, this change makes Klout score much more credible and much more accurate. MarketMeSuite CEO Tammy Fennell wrote a great article on the topic which I fully and completey agree with. Since I can’t do any better than her, I invite you to go read her article .

At this point and before I go any further, let me just say that I know I’m probably throwing the cat in the pigeons again (but if you read me regularly you know how much I enjoy doing it) and that this article reflects my personal opinion only.

It is true that Klout should maybe have communicated better. And it is true that it would be great if their new algorithm was simple to understand, like Facebook’s EdgeRank is. But still, this is actually quite secondary in the point I want to make.

And there, now to the point: when I read reactions like “Bah! I deleted my Klout profile, this is all bull****!!!!!”, I first wonder what Klout could possibly have done to people for them to love it so much that the minute it changes, they hate it with such enraged passion (and how they did it, I’m dead serious: generating such a passion takes a marketing genius, doesn’t it?)

But then I also want to reply: “Dude, do you really think Klout is biting their fingers and whining “Oh Goooooooooood, Mr X left us!”. Come on … You can “delete” all you want, Klout does not care, for a very simple reason: you’re not deleting your profile. You’re just deactivating it. Everyone who has Twitter has Klout. Everyone. This is even the Klout slogan when you hit their homepage “Everybody has Klout”. Duh. You’on Twitter, you’re automatically indexed on Klout, even if you have not activated it, even if you don’t know it, even if you don’t want it. You automatically have a Klout score, and your topics of influence are automatically calculated. Anyone. Even bots. Anyone.

Klout has been working this way from day 1, and if you have been there before they made the changes, you know it. And you’re burying your head in the sand, because if you’re so angry at the changes, it means you used to be a Klout fan.

So well, I guess that if you want to truly delete your presence on Klout, then you’re going to have to shut down your Twitter account.

Which brings me to the main point of this article. This Klout specificity of indexing absolutely everyone makes it truly unique. It makes Klout a directory of people to follow or not to follow. People to connect with or not. It’s such a powerful networking tool! Through Klout, you can identify the influencers in your industry, in your topics of interests, in your clients’ industries… within a couple clicks. And then all you have to do is to connect with these people on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, connect with thir connections, and so on and so forth.

Ultimately, isn’t that what Social Media and Social Networking is all about? Or am I stupid and naive to think that since there is “Social” in Social Networking, it means it’s about the others and not yourself?

So stop being self-centered, stop focusing on your belly button, stop obsessing about your Klout score, stop crying because you “worked so hard to increase your Klout score”. You missed the point. Stop making it about you and only you.

Stop that stupid “revolution” of “Oh God, I hate Klout, how could they do this to me, I’m going to protest and delete my profile” because Klout could not care less. You think you are depriving Klout from your presence? The truth is, you are doing yourself only wrong by depriving yourself from a great, easy-to-use and powerful networking tool that can give you access to industry leaders and influencers.

Start focusing on others’ Klout topics and scores, because there are potential partners, potential clients, potential buddies, potential service providers – potential business and personal opportunities.

And isn’t that the ultimate goal, the true reason why we, all of us, are using Social Media?