How Much Klout Do You Have?

Beltway journalists' obsession with Twitter has made "Klout me" the new "Google me." We sometimes like to think of ourselves as ahead of the curve. For those unfamiliar with Klout, it's an online tool that measures how important you are in the Twittersphere on a scale of 1 to 100. Your level of importance ("Klout") is determined by how many people are responding to and sharing your tweets. The more engaged people are with your content, the higher your score. Klout also shows what topics you're most invested in, who you influence (meaning, who's reacting to and sharing the messages you tweet) and who's influencing you. In voyeuristic fashion, we went ahead and checked the Klout on a sampling of Washington journos. Dylan Byers: The new media reporter at Politico working with Ben Smith on his revamped blog. His Klout score is 57. The topics he deals in most on Twitter are pretty straightforward. They include: New York City, advertising, and family (aww). He influences Adweek's David Levine and Politico's Eliza Krigman. On the flip side, Think Progress and NYT's Brian Stelter shape his Twitter world. Nia-Malika Henderson: National political reporter for WaPo. Some of her favorite Twitter topics are moms, Henderson, and Barack Obama. Who she influences most: MSNBC Al Sharpton's "Politics Nation" and "The Bill Press Show." Those who influence Henderson are entirely exclusive to WaPo reporters, except CNN's Sam Feist. NJ's Major Garrett: Congressional Correspondent for NJ and, according to Klout, a New England Patriot's fan. That's the second thing he's most engaged in on Twitter. Others are major league baseball and conservative politics. Garrett influences Wofford College and NJ's Chris Frates. He's influenced by Slate's Dave Weigel and The Atlantic's Molly Ball. His Klout: 56. UPDATE: Major questions Klout's validity. He writes in, "I AM NOT A NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS FAN…..I have never tweeted anything about the Patriots. I am a San Diego Chargers fan and San Diego Padres fan and fan of my alma mater, the University of Missouri and have tweeted frequently about them, but never, ever, ever the Patriots. Klout is seriously missing a klue." Current TV's David Shuster: Former MSNBC anchor, current Current TV contributor/Keith Olbermann sub. He's got a Klout score of 48 and an incredibly random group of topics he tweets about. Included are libraries, mother nature and religion and spirituality. Oh, and tea. Strange bedfellows: He influences WaPo's Ezra Klein but is shaped by Olbermann and FNC's Bret Baier. WaPo's Jonathan Capehart: Editorial writer at WaPo and high flying with a Klout score of 60. Some things he likes to tweet about: Rick Perry, LGBT and Africa. Find the common link. He influences 12,000 people, but no big names at the top. However, he pays a lot of attention to MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan, The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis and The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza. NBC's Andrea Mitchell: MSNBC anchor. She likes to tweet about food, coffee and photography. The people she most influences appear to be just a bunch of fans but her tweets are influenced by Herman Cain, Mitt Romney and Politico. Her Klout score is up there at 63. Dave Weigel (couldn't do it without him): Political reporter for Slate. His Klout is scored at an impressive 75. Some topics he deals in most on Twitter include earthquakes, Sarah Palin and job search. Sadly, the person he influences most is an account dedicated to Weigel: @Weigelisbored. The top three people who influence him are Politico's Smith and Jonathan Martin and new addition to Slate, Matthew Yglesias. To be fair, we Klouted ourselves, too... FishbowlDC: Yours truly. Our Kout score is a respectable 54. A few topics we apparently like to tweet about: Coma, guitar and Barbara Walters. Who's paying attention to us: Sirius XM's Julie Mason, FishbowlDC's Matt Dornic and Washingtonian's Carol Joynt. Our biggest influences are, who else? Dave Weigel, Chuck Todd, Ezra Klein and Chris Hayes. -- EDDIE SCARRY

Fishbowl

How Much Klout Do You Have?

Betsy Rothstein

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Betsy Rothstein