Cinch Draws From Klout's Bank of Influencers to Match the Right Expert to Your Questions

Sept. 29, 2013 — -- App Name: Cinch

Price: Free

Available Platforms: iOS

What does this app do?: Not long ago, San Francisco startup Klout launched a website and mobile app that takes a look at social media analytics across 8 networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and started using that data to show users how much social media influence they had according to the company's grading system, a score of 1 to 100. Recommendations on LinkedIn, comments and wall posts on Facebook, and the number of retweets generated from your tweets, for example, and the ration of reactions you generate compared to the amount of content you generate are ways in which Klout looks at your influence and contribute to your score.

Last week, Klout launched a smaller, related application called Cinch. Drawing on its bank of Klout experts, the application allows users to ask a a life-style related question,---questions on parenting, home improvement, and pet care, for example,--and from there the app will search it's database of influencers to match the best expert to offer users the best advice to their inquiry.

To use Cinch, begin by logging in through your Facebook account and type your question, such as "What's a good thread count for sheets?," and include any relevant details. Cinch will reach out to its potential experts (presumably someone culled from Klout's store of influencers). Once the app identifies an expert, you and that person can privately message each other about your question.

Users can see questions others have posted, but the app keeps the answers private; Klout assures users the conversation between you and its experts it will not post your questions or the answers you receive to Facebook.

Is it easy to install?: This free app requires almost no time to download. In order for it to work, however, you will need to grant Cinch access to your Facebook account. Therefore, make sure you adjust your settings on Facebook to allow the app permission.

Should I try it?: Users may wonder what the intersection is between Klout and Cinch; does asking a question through Cinch, or being selected as an expert affect your Klout score somehow? For the moment, Cinch is more like an extension of Klout that utilizes the webiste's reservoir of knowledgeable experts. Where Klout is intended to help you monitor you social media influence, Cinch is designed to get you answers to specific questions from the people that likely rank high as an influencer in the Klout environment on a specific topic. Given that Klout monitors 12 billion pieces of social data a day, according to its website, and it is from this pool of data that Cinch looks to for experts, the app is poised to match the right person to answer your questions.