Whuffie Factor pt. 2 - Comm404

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! ;)

The Whuffie Factor pt. 1 - Comm404

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!