On its website, Klout, a social media analytics provider, touts itself as “the standard for influence.” Earlier this week, it posted a listing of “The most influential colleges on Twitter.” Stanford was at the top of the heap.
“Watch out US News and World Report, there’s a new ranking system in town. Does your college have Klout?” blogger and Klout marketing manager MEGAN BERRY asked in her posting on the company’s website. “In all seriousness, Twitter influence is a revealing metric for colleges. The most influential ones must be both tech-savvy enough to have a well-managed Twitter account and have the most influential professors, alums and others engaging with them,” Berry noted, adding, “I’m proud to say my own alma mater, Stanford, is number one!”
Syracuse University was second, followed by Harvard (the lone Ivy on the list), followed closely by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Cal came in fifth.
IAN HSU, director of Internet media outreach at Stanford, praised the team responsible for Stanford’s success on Twitter:
“Not everyone knows this, but Stanford’s Twitter account (@stanford) is actually curated by a talented team of student evangelist/writers. They’re doing a stellar job of connecting with the Stanford community on Twitter, and I couldn’t be more proud of their work,” Hsu said.
