Whuffie: Not just what a dog says

This week we were assigned readings from a book called, "How To Be A Social Capitalist". If you read my previous blogs, then perhaps you remember the discussion of social capitalism. I tried to simplify the idea as much as possible by saying that it is having a sense of pride and connection with one's community, and doing things for others within that community.

I was starting to feel that I had a pretty good grasp on the subject due to the fact that I had done some reading in class and outside reading for a presentation on the topic. However, I was surprised to learn that this concept I was learning about was also known by a much different term: Whuffie. I think it's best to take the definition given in the book:
"Whuffie is the residual outcome-the currency-of your reputation. You lose or gain it based on positive or negative actions, your contributions to the community, and what people think of you"
It seems to be very similar to the definition of social capital. So why the different, and strange,name? From my understanding, social capitalism is a general term and whuffie is a more specific term dealing with online social capital. Even more specifically, it has to deal with building social capital through social networking tools.

I'm sure that most of you have noticed that social networking sites are not just for everyday users to discuss what they ate that day, and share pictures of their friends drinking. In fact, social networking sites have a variety of uses, one of which is to promote businesses. If you do a little searching, you can usually find most any large company has a Facebook page that you can check out. Many such pages have advertisements for the brand, and deals and promotions. Some have lists of upcoming events that relate to the brand, and perhaps even some sort of entertainment such as a game. All of these pages allow users to add the page to their list of "likes". This is good for the company because it not only advertises to users friends that they are a part of this group and entices others to join, but it also helps the company to gain trust from users because it has such a large following. These days having an online presence is vital for a company's success. So how does a company gain popularity online? How do they get people to add them to their list of "likes"?

Answering this question is what our reading was all about this week. The author made the humorous comment that there are really only three ways to build a business and make money online: "porn, luck, and whuffie". A company needs to establish themselves online, and create a following. One of the most important things is having good connections, in other words, networking. If a company can show that they are somehow connected to another well-liked, highly-respected company, they will most likely gain respect through doing so.

This idea is not only for businesses. Actually, anyone who is online and a member of some sort of social networking site, has whuffie. How much time you spend building your whuffie is up to you. One wonders how far this idea will go. Perhaps one day employers will be looking at a person's whuffie when considering them for a job. The book gave a very interesting example taken from a science fiction novel, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom". The author of the science fiction novel envisioned a world in which whuffie is the only currency used. You would pay for everything you need with your whuffie. This would not be in some sort of paper or card form. Instead, your whuffie is a part of you at all times and anyone can access your internal computer to figure out how wealthy or poor you are. This is an extremely interesting concept to try and wrap your mind around. The weirdest part is that it doesn't sound altogether impossible.

The reading for this week was very informative, and we are continuing reading on the same topic next week. Please let me know your thoughts on the subject, and look for more information in my next blog.