Whuffie
Encyclopedia
Whuffie is the ephemeral, reputation-based currency
of Cory Doctorow
's science fiction novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
. This book describes a post-scarcity economy
: All the necessities (and most of the luxuries) of life are free for the taking. A person's current Whuffie is instantly viewable to anyone, as everybody has a brain-implant giving them an interface with the Net.
The term has since seen some adoption as a synonym for social capital
, including its use in the title of the Tara Hunt
book The Whuffie Factor.
, providing a motivation for people to do useful and creative things. A person's Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation and is gained (or lost) according to a person's favorable (or unfavorable) actions. Public opinion determines which actions are favorable or unfavorable. The Whuffie of one who rudely pushes past others may suffer, as she falls within the disapprobation of those pushed, or witnesses of the event. A much-loved symphony, on the other hand, continues to earn the composer Whuffie as more people enjoy it. Some judgments contributing to an individual's Whuffie are automatic and require no conscious thought on the part of others, as all possess brain chips. As brain dumps allow machines to carry consciousness, the machines can do the thinking for people and allow them to know the results automatically.
While there are few details in the novel of how this system actually works, it is described in idealistic terms:
A person with a score of 0 is just as capable of giving and revoking Whuffie as someone with a score of 1,000,000. The person with the million-point score would be invited to parties and elite events while his bottomed-out counterpart would probably not even be allowed into reputable clubs or restaurants; but both of their opinions on someone else would count for the same amount of gross Whuffie.
Like all economic systems, Whuffie has effects that seem undesirable to many. It might tend to favour popular speech at the expense of public discourse, and it could frequently be uninformative: if a person has a high Whuffie score, is it for guitar playing or auto repair? However, both of these are already the status quo under the existing capitalist system, and the concept of weighted Whuffie helps make better decisions on a person-by-person basis, and thus is more flexible than rating someone by their bank account. Also, the Whuffie system (in the book) keeps a public history of how each person's Whuffie was earned, unlike the secret origins of other people's money in a capitalist system.
. Jack Vance
uses a reputation system called "strakh" as currency in his short story The Moon Moth
, published in 1961.
conference on September 15, 2009. The organization aims to create a reputation currency for social networks.
as is often believed.
Whuffie is mentioned in Doctorow's Eastern Standard Tribe
, but appears to be in the general sense of building reputation.
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
of Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
's science fiction novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a 2003 science fiction book, the first novel by Canadian author and digital-rights activist Cory Doctorow...
. This book describes a post-scarcity economy
Post scarcity
Post scarcity is a hypothetical form of economy or society, in which things such as goods, services and information are free, or practically free...
: All the necessities (and most of the luxuries) of life are free for the taking. A person's current Whuffie is instantly viewable to anyone, as everybody has a brain-implant giving them an interface with the Net.
The term has since seen some adoption as a synonym for social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
, including its use in the title of the Tara Hunt
Tara Hunt
Tara Hunt is an author, speaker and startup founder, known for her work in marketing and community-building, as well as for her book, The Whuffie Factor.-Biography:...
book The Whuffie Factor.
Explanation
In the novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, usual economic incentives have disappeared: Whuffie has replaced moneyMoney
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
, providing a motivation for people to do useful and creative things. A person's Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation and is gained (or lost) according to a person's favorable (or unfavorable) actions. Public opinion determines which actions are favorable or unfavorable. The Whuffie of one who rudely pushes past others may suffer, as she falls within the disapprobation of those pushed, or witnesses of the event. A much-loved symphony, on the other hand, continues to earn the composer Whuffie as more people enjoy it. Some judgments contributing to an individual's Whuffie are automatic and require no conscious thought on the part of others, as all possess brain chips. As brain dumps allow machines to carry consciousness, the machines can do the thinking for people and allow them to know the results automatically.
While there are few details in the novel of how this system actually works, it is described in idealistic terms:
- "Whuffie recaptured the true essence of money: in the old days, if you were broke but respected, you wouldn't starve; contrariwise, if you were rich and hated, no sum could buy you security and peace. By measuring the thing that money really represented — your personal capital with your friends and neighbors — you more accurately gauged your success".
A person with a score of 0 is just as capable of giving and revoking Whuffie as someone with a score of 1,000,000. The person with the million-point score would be invited to parties and elite events while his bottomed-out counterpart would probably not even be allowed into reputable clubs or restaurants; but both of their opinions on someone else would count for the same amount of gross Whuffie.
Like all economic systems, Whuffie has effects that seem undesirable to many. It might tend to favour popular speech at the expense of public discourse, and it could frequently be uninformative: if a person has a high Whuffie score, is it for guitar playing or auto repair? However, both of these are already the status quo under the existing capitalist system, and the concept of weighted Whuffie helps make better decisions on a person-by-person basis, and thus is more flexible than rating someone by their bank account. Also, the Whuffie system (in the book) keeps a public history of how each person's Whuffie was earned, unlike the secret origins of other people's money in a capitalist system.
Similarities to other stories
Howard L. Myers wrote of a similar system based on admiration in his story "All Around the Universe," written between 1967 and 1971. Iain M. Banks uses a similar currency system for the Nasqueron Dwellers based on "Kudos" in his novel The AlgebraistThe Algebraist
The Algebraist, a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first appeared in print in 2004. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2005....
. Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
uses a reputation system called "strakh" as currency in his short story The Moon Moth
The Moon Moth
"The Moon Moth" is a science fiction short story by American author Jack Vance, first published in 1961.-Plot summary:Edwer Thissell, the new consul from Earth to the planet Sirene, has trouble adjusting to the local culture. The Sirenese cover their faces with exquisitely crafted masks that...
, published in 1961.
The Whuffie Bank
The Whuffie Bank launched as a non-profit company at the TechCrunch50TechCrunch50
TechCrunch50 was a conference held at the Design Center Concourse in San Francisco, California on September 14-15, 2009, hosted by TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis. Its aim was to find the best Web 2.0 start-ups and launch them in front of the industry's most influential venture capitalists,...
conference on September 15, 2009. The organization aims to create a reputation currency for social networks.
Etymology
Doctorow has indicated that the word 'Whuffie' is a made-up word he used in high school, and is not a vocalization of an abbreviation (in the style of 'Gazoo' — GSU, or Grad Students Union) or of Wi-FiWi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
as is often believed.
Whuffie is mentioned in Doctorow's Eastern Standard Tribe
Eastern Standard Tribe
Eastern Standard Tribe is a 2004 novel by Cory Doctorow. Like Doctorow's first two books, the entire text was released under a Creative Commons license on Doctorow's website, allowing the whole text of the book to be read for free and distributed without the publisher's permission.-Plot...
, but appears to be in the general sense of building reputation.
See also
- Wasta
- kudosKudosKudos is an English word meaning acclaim or praise for exceptional achievement.Kudos may also refer to:* KUDOS, a vocational-counseling computer program* Kudos , a chocolate-covered cereal bar...
- karma (Slashdot)
- egobooEgobooEgoboo is a colloquial expression for the pleasure received from public recognition of voluntary work.The term was in use in science fiction fandom no later than 1947, when it was used in a letter from Rick Sneary published in the letter column of Thrilling Wonder Stories...
- Brownie pointsBrownie pointsBrownie points in modern usage are a hypothetical social currency, which can be accrued by doing good deeds or earning favor in the eyes of another, often one's superior.-Brown Stamps:...
- social capitalSocial capitalSocial capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
- Attention economyAttention economyAttention economics is an approach to the management of information that treats human attention as a scarce commodity, and applies economic theory to solve various information management problems....
- Gift economyGift economyIn the social sciences, a gift economy is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards . Ideally, simultaneous or recurring giving serves to circulate and redistribute valuables within the community...
- Reputation systemReputation systemA reputation system computes and publishes reputation scores for a set of objects within a community or domain, based on a collection of opinions that other entities hold about the objects...
- PagerankPageRankPageRank is a link analysis algorithm, named after Larry Page and used by the Google Internet search engine, that assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, such as the World Wide Web, with the purpose of "measuring" its relative importance within the set...
- RebloggingRebloggingReblogging is the mechanism in microblogging which allows users to repost the content of another user's post with an indication that the content of the repost is a "reblog" from another user...
- Activity streamActivity streamAn activity stream is a list of recent activities performed by an individual, typically on a single website. For example, Facebook's News Feed is an activity stream. Since the introduction of the News Feed on September 6, 2006, other major websites have introduced similar implementations for their...
- Pay with a TweetPay with a TweetPay with a Tweet is a social media marketing system that lets content creators give away access to their content in exchange for a promotional message in form of a tweet on Twitter or a wall post on Facebook...