First of all, let me start off by saying that I was most definitely confused upon reading about this new concept called The Whuffie Factor. Now, social capitalism is not exactly a topic that I spend time thinking about or researching it, but after reading a chapter in a book about this concept, it's made me wonder why so much time in my college career has passed without me hearing about it.
Social capitalism is social relations that have productive benefits. The Whuffie Factor is very similar, except it refers to how you keep your reputation via web, such as Facebook, Twitter, and other means of social networking. And the author predicts that one day your whuffie will mean the same to people as currency. Scary concept, eh? Well, I thought so. Although I have internet access and FB, Twitter, Flickr and other apps on my phone, sometimes I don't always have the time to keep up with everything and reply to everyone and make sure that I am in good standing with everyone on these sites via web. My whuffie is therefore at risk.
The author explains that online and the real world are two parallel economies, and that of course real money will always be needed in the real world, in the online world this will not be so. If you have a lot of social capital you will be ahead in the competition that is "Web life." High wuffie will gain you loyalty from customers and put your business in good standing and will get people to talk about you in a more positive light, so why take the risk of ignoring possible whuffie-building opportunities?
Still confused? Think about it this way. Your all time favorite band creates a Twitter account to let fans know when their next tour is, where book signings are and when their newest album is coming out. Problem is, they fail to update their status. They also failed to create a MySpace and Facebook account, and their official web site hasn't been updated in a few weeks. Now what? Their whuffie drastically drops as does the loyalty by their fans. This same concept is true for anyone who belongs to a social networking site, including blogs. Anybody can move down the "social whuffie ladder" by neglecting their "online responsibilities."
So my advice to all of you reading this now is to go update your statuses, respond to comments and messages that are left unresponded to on all of your social networking sites and get out there and build your wuffie, because one day it might be too late and you're gonna wish you had that whuffie-moola!
Hey L,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to start off by saying thanks for commenting on my blog... Anyways, I noticed that you were discussing money and how we'll always need it in the real world. I personally can see all of our money going digital. We already have credit cards and online banking, which you know. So I have a question for you... Do you think eventually paper/coin money will go away and go all digital? We wouldnt have to worry about reprinting money.. we wouldnt pyhsically have to carry it on us anymore, just cards. Also, if we had something stolen like a purse we wouldnt have to worry about our "money" being stolen cause we could just stop our cards. Hmm, Something to think about!
Enjoy your weekend!
Sincerely,
K
I liked your example of having a band create a Twitter page and then fails to update it as well as create different social networking accounts. The whuffie factor can be confusing and be a lot of online responsibilities to take care of on a regular basis. But I think we are all getting used to keeping up with updates and being responsible in handling our email accounts etc. because yes, having this skill will most likely help us in our future careers.
ReplyDeleteK, just the other day I was having a conversation with a friend about money going digital one day. She asked me if I thought that one day even credit cards will even become obsolete and if the tip of our finger would be able to be used as a form of credit card through a microchip under the skin. Although I find that idea a little far fetched, I wouldn't be surprised that if one day very distant in the future, perhaps even after our time, coins and paper money will be obsolete as well.
ReplyDelete