THE WHUFFIE FACTOR

a book review by Paul Share

In The Whuffie Factor, author Tara Hunt tells the fascinating story of how, in recent years, entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes have used social networking to succeed in business. Hunt notes that traditional advertising is experiencing diminishing returns, as people learn to block out messages from a bombardment of media. Which brings us to the concept and use of “whuffie”.

Whuffie is a term coined by Cory Doctorow, a popular blogger, in a science fiction novel. He uses the term to describe social capital (or good will) in a future time when money is replaced as a medium of exchange by whuffie.   Hunt tells the story of businesses that have used social networking tools and Web 2.0 approaches to build a community of users, nurture whuffie with this community, and use this whuffie to thrive. She uses the telling of their stories to illustrate the various principles and “how-to’s”  that a person or business should follow in order to build social communities, interact with these social communities in a manner that builds whuffie, and ultimately benefit from the relationships and good-will generated.

But Hunt’s book is more than an engaging account of how businesses have successfully used these tools, and it is more than a how-to guide.  The Whuffie Factor also addresses a number of philosophical threads that are drifting through the cybersphere. Hunt writes that in order to be successful in building up Whuffie with a community, a member has to adopt a certain mindset. You can’t go into the community thinking of how you are going to benefit. Rather, you have to go in thinking of how you can benefit the community.

The success stories that Ms. Hunt recounts often demonstrate the “what goes around, comes around” school of karmic sociology. Many of these success stories are companies whose very mission statement involves doing good. Two examples are Stonyfield Farm, whose basic mission statement is to create environmentally friendly products, and Craigslist, which started as a free service and which to this day chooses not to charge for most types of listings. But even with businesses where a higher purpose is not built into the mission statement, Ms. Hunt shows how a key element in their success is a commitment to building and listening to a customer community, and using what they learn to improve their customers’ experience with their products and services. By serving their customers, companies create whuffie which, which as Ms. Hunt details, these businesses have used to improve customer loyalty and their sales.

I had the opportunity to speak with Hunt and asked her whether individuals looking for work can learn from the story told in her book.

She replied:

“Absolutely. When it comes to social capital, individuals are the key element, whether acting for a company or for themselves. It is always individuals who have the passions and human interests and emotions that can turn a series of digital connections into a community.”

“The world is changing before our eyes. Of the 500 companies included in the original Fortune 500 list published in 1955, only 71 (less than 15%) remained on this list on the 50^th anniversary in 2005.We work at a job and get comfortable and proficient at it, but then the job changes or goes away.  Jobs that we trained for 5, 10 and 15 years ago are disappearing or changing dramatically. Journalism is an example. People want news but more and more they are getting it digitally. People will pay for a pound of newspaper but resist paying when the news is in digital form.  So more and more journalists are losing their jobs with hard-copy publications and are scrambling to make a living in this new age.”

“For an individual to become adaptable in order to, survive and even benefit from this tidal wave of change it necessary to put yourself out there.  Word of mouth, has always been the most powerful form of marketing, for individuals as well as companies. In this age of digital communities, its reach is growing and it is getting even more powerful. Only by reaching out and engaging with many communities, can you keep on top of what is happening and build personal Whuffie that will help you find new work in this new age.”

As explained in Ms. Hunt’s book, by participating in groups like No-Shortage of Work, with a “pay it forward” mindset, one engages in communities in a manner that is personally rewarding and tends to be rewarding in terms of one’s career.