So far a lot of new ideas have been introduced surrounding this whole "whuffie" idea, and this author definitely hits home in Chapter 2 of her book.
Almost everyone today has a Facebook or is a member of some other social networking site, but have you ever thought about the influence the "friends" you have on that site have over you? On FB I have over 400 friends, but only keep in contact with about 5 of them on a weekly basis, while another 20 are probably monthly and some I have never even visited their profiles or talked to them, even though I know them. However, even if I'm not keeping in touch or view their profiles I still receive their status updates, and if one of them updates about the new hit movie of the year and how amazing it was, you can bet that I am in the theater that weekend to see it. If someone makes a comment about how awesome a TV show was that night, the next week I'm making an effort to watch it. Instant influence. This same concept works the other way around as well; I now have the power to [attempt] to influence hundreds of people that I don't even see or talk to! That's what the author in this chapter discusses. She says that now with social networking sites we are getting more influence over these potential friends more than by advertisers. True? Maybe. Believable? Definitely.
Besides entertainment and online shopping, the web has other powers to influence. One particular example that I found most touching was when a WWII veteran died in 2007, tens of thousands were able to mourn his loss via YouTube. This event wasn't limited to his friends and family but to every single person on the web. The author explains that with videos such as these and tools such as YouTube, even the older generations are getting more involved with networking and the internet. It's a way to reach out to people and share your thoughts and opinions with people you didn't even know existed. Even companies such as Wal Mart are using things like Facebook to reach out to college students in an effort to bring in new business. In my personal opinion, the web is all about finding yourself, what you like, what you don't like and people you can connect with that in the real world you might not have thought possible.
To be whuffie rich, the "first order of business is to make connections and establish credibility." So stop wasting your time meeting friends in coffee shops, go home and get on your computer and make the connections where it really counts! ;)
Hey L!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that you have yet another great blog for us this week. I really like how you discussed the whole "friends" topic regarding facebook... since i have lived in a bunch of places I have managed to rack up quite the number of friends. However, how many are "REAL" friends while the others are just acquaintances... probably half of them. The whuffie factor has given us the ability to stay in touch and offers us so many opportunities to do things that we never new we could. I dont know whats to come next with social capitalism, but I hope it's something positive and to our advantage... not just a bunch of businesses spamming us with their crap. Hope all is well.
Till next time.
Sincerely,
K.
I totally agree with your discussion of Facebook. Most of my "friends" I don't even talk to or visit their pages! But I like to keep up with them through status updates, and I too have found myself trying a new product because someone suggested it. The Internet is a very powerful tool and I think we are just beginning to realize all of its uses.
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