What do you think?
Rate this book
The Power of Social Networking: Using the Whuffie Factor to Build Your Business
The book that catches the crest of Web 2.0 and shows how any business can harness its power by increasing whuffie, the store of social capital that is the currency of the digital world.
Everyone knows about blogs and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and has heard about someone who has used them to grow a huge customer base. Everyone wants to be hands-on, grassroots, and interactive, but what does this mean? And more to the point, how do you do it?
As one who has actually launched a company using the power of online communities, and who now advises large and small companies, Tara Hunt (named by the San Francisco Chronicle, along with luminaries Jimmy Wales and Tim O’Reilly, as a digital Utopian) is the perfect person to do this book.
While The Whuffie Factor will traverse the landscape of Web 2.0 and show how to become a player, it is not just another book about online marketing. People see the huge business potential of the online world and the first impulse is: Let’s throw a bunch of money at it. To which Tara Hunt says: “Stop! Money isn’t the capital of choice in online communities, it is whuffie–social capital–and how to raise it is at the heart of this book.” In the Web 2.0 world, market capital flows from having high social capital. Without whuffie you lose your connections and any recommendations you make will be seen as spam–met with negative reactions and a loss of social capital.
The Whuffie Factor provides businesspeople with a strategic map and specific tactics for the constantly evolving, elusive, and, to some, strange world of online communities. By connecting with your customers through community interaction, you’ll raise your social capital, create demand, and sell more product. Consumer loyalty is a direct result of whuffie. With great stories of online business successes and cautionary tales of major missteps–recording industry, anyone?–Tara Hunt reveals how social networking has more influence over buying decisions than any other marketing tool and how your business can tap into the vast world of Web 2.0 to build an unshakable foundation for twenty-first-century-style online success.
For those without millions–even thousands–to throw around, here is a fresh perspective for using social networks to help build a business whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 giant. Even those in big rich companies need to learn how to be effective and not waste their money. For them–as well as the entrepreneur–The Whuffie Factor is an eye-opening guide to a world they probably don’t understand all that well.
From the Hardcover edition.
Everyone knows about blogs and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and has heard about someone who has used them to grow a huge customer base. Everyone wants to be hands-on, grassroots, and interactive, but what does this mean? And more to the point, how do you do it?
As one who has actually launched a company using the power of online communities, and who now advises large and small companies, Tara Hunt (named by the San Francisco Chronicle, along with luminaries Jimmy Wales and Tim O’Reilly, as a digital Utopian) is the perfect person to do this book.
While The Whuffie Factor will traverse the landscape of Web 2.0 and show how to become a player, it is not just another book about online marketing. People see the huge business potential of the online world and the first impulse is: Let’s throw a bunch of money at it. To which Tara Hunt says: “Stop! Money isn’t the capital of choice in online communities, it is whuffie–social capital–and how to raise it is at the heart of this book.” In the Web 2.0 world, market capital flows from having high social capital. Without whuffie you lose your connections and any recommendations you make will be seen as spam–met with negative reactions and a loss of social capital.
The Whuffie Factor provides businesspeople with a strategic map and specific tactics for the constantly evolving, elusive, and, to some, strange world of online communities. By connecting with your customers through community interaction, you’ll raise your social capital, create demand, and sell more product. Consumer loyalty is a direct result of whuffie. With great stories of online business successes and cautionary tales of major missteps–recording industry, anyone?–Tara Hunt reveals how social networking has more influence over buying decisions than any other marketing tool and how your business can tap into the vast world of Web 2.0 to build an unshakable foundation for twenty-first-century-style online success.
For those without millions–even thousands–to throw around, here is a fresh perspective for using social networks to help build a business whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 giant. Even those in big rich companies need to learn how to be effective and not waste their money. For them–as well as the entrepreneur–The Whuffie Factor is an eye-opening guide to a world they probably don’t understand all that well.
From the Hardcover edition.
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 11, 2008
15 people are currently reading
353 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
Read
January 31, 2013Tara Hunt's book is not just about a clever way to make conversation on Twitter, but a human story of conversations and where they lead. Hunt is a Canadian who made a splash in San Francisco, but then she returns to Canada in style: in her "Whuffie Mobile."
Whuffie is the concept of Social Good Will, which is gained by creating value for other people before asking for value (like a sale or a like or whatever) as if it were a Feelings-Generated Bank Account: you make a deposit before making any withdrawals.
On social networks, building whuffie is the main goal where building value and spreading the Good returns in creative and remunerative ways. Even after reading more books about this saturated subject since 2009, I still love the whole idea of Whuffie, and recommend this story without reservation. A great read. Great suggestions. A good model to emulate on the Social Web.
Whuffie is the concept of Social Good Will, which is gained by creating value for other people before asking for value (like a sale or a like or whatever) as if it were a Feelings-Generated Bank Account: you make a deposit before making any withdrawals.
On social networks, building whuffie is the main goal where building value and spreading the Good returns in creative and remunerative ways. Even after reading more books about this saturated subject since 2009, I still love the whole idea of Whuffie, and recommend this story without reservation. A great read. Great suggestions. A good model to emulate on the Social Web.
April 4, 2019
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Social Networks are here to stay. Resist Twitter now only to be forced to adopt it in a few years. And while adding another blog to the millions already out there might seem futile, think again. If you’re not part of Facebook, aren’t uploading videos to YouTube, haven’t added photos to Flickr, you’re wasting time. And whuffie (“…the culmination of your reputation, influence, bridging and bonding capital, current and potential access to ideas, talent and resources, saved-up favors, and accomplishments.”)
Anyone in business has to be Internet savvy, but knowing what a blog is and maintaining an effective one are two different things. What Ms. Hunt has to say about business in the age of online communities is worth listening to. She provides interesting and relatable stories of how various companies are building relationships in new and exciting ways.
If you have a website and a blog do you still need to be on Facebook? As Ms. Hunt writes, “…there is rarely one “community.” Your customers…gather in multiple communities related to how they interact with your business.” And, “The way you build relationships is very different for each group.” So yes, you probably need to be on Facebook, because, “by building relationships with individuals—real people—you don’t aim at a target, you make a connection.”
The communication between company and consumer has changed. According to Ms. Hunt, clients today want to be “listened to” (turn the bullhorn around), “empowered,” and “treated like peers.” They expect empathy, humility, and a sense of humor. Oh, and they would like it very much if your product or service could be adapted and personalized to suit their particular needs. And if you can manage to make the entire experience FUN while you’re at it, that would be SUPER!
Because many of the book’s examples are based on Ms. Hunt’s personal experiences, the writing is often reflective and blog like, but a more authoritative voice might have given the examples more weight, especially since much of what it says can be attributed to common sense, like “become part of the community you serve,” “be notable,” and “embrace the chaos.” Regardless of your experience with online communities you are certainly going to find at least a couple of ideas in this book that you’ll want to implement immediately. As Ms. Hunt writes, “Small changes are not necessarily insignificant.”
Anyone in business has to be Internet savvy, but knowing what a blog is and maintaining an effective one are two different things. What Ms. Hunt has to say about business in the age of online communities is worth listening to. She provides interesting and relatable stories of how various companies are building relationships in new and exciting ways.
If you have a website and a blog do you still need to be on Facebook? As Ms. Hunt writes, “…there is rarely one “community.” Your customers…gather in multiple communities related to how they interact with your business.” And, “The way you build relationships is very different for each group.” So yes, you probably need to be on Facebook, because, “by building relationships with individuals—real people—you don’t aim at a target, you make a connection.”
The communication between company and consumer has changed. According to Ms. Hunt, clients today want to be “listened to” (turn the bullhorn around), “empowered,” and “treated like peers.” They expect empathy, humility, and a sense of humor. Oh, and they would like it very much if your product or service could be adapted and personalized to suit their particular needs. And if you can manage to make the entire experience FUN while you’re at it, that would be SUPER!
Because many of the book’s examples are based on Ms. Hunt’s personal experiences, the writing is often reflective and blog like, but a more authoritative voice might have given the examples more weight, especially since much of what it says can be attributed to common sense, like “become part of the community you serve,” “be notable,” and “embrace the chaos.” Regardless of your experience with online communities you are certainly going to find at least a couple of ideas in this book that you’ll want to implement immediately. As Ms. Hunt writes, “Small changes are not necessarily insignificant.”
January 19, 2010
A goofy title hides a solid review of the web 2.0 landscape. Those, ahem, seasoned enough to remember the slow-motion tsunami that was the introduction of email and the internet are experiencing the same feelings in the face of Facebook and similar social networking tools in combination with pocket-sized PCs known as smart-phones. Despite the clichés the game of business is changing as a component of overall changes happening in human relationships. Early adopter Hunt is a prime position to guide you in this new world and generally covers these often mystifying tools in an understandable and practical fashion. The book’s greatest strength is its reality-based explanations of just how to apply seemingly pointless technologies such as blogs and Twitter to actually improve sales and profits. The stories about her exemplars (bag manufacturer Timbuk2, Zappos’s shoes, etc.) well-illustrate her points although some case studies of dealing with web communities are already fairly well-known (Dell, Wal-Mart, etc.) At times, however, the case studies drift outside the central thesis into testimonials for Hunt’s favorite brands (Moleskine notebooks, Southwest airlines, etc.). The biggest issue with the book is the continuous use of the goofy and entirely unnecessary consultant-speak buzzword “whuffie.” “Social capital” covers the concept adequately and the text would have flowed better had it talked about hurting or improving a firm’s social capital rather than the continually repeated metaphor of making deposits and withdrawals of whuffie in the metaphorical whuffie bank. Luckily most of the text is not written in this consultant-speak.
April 1, 2010
Very good. On par with Groundswell. I learned so much more about social networking! Plus, great info on how to use social networking to improve the effectiveness of marketing and PR in business and our personal careers! There were referrals to useful websites full of FREE content available to enhance your own pages, blogs, and sites. This book is all about building value and keeping your mindset where it needs to be in this 21st century: how to help your customer get what they want and need.
I loved the stories and examples of businesses doing it right, doing it wrong, and especially doing it wrong, admitting it, apologizing, changing, and doing it right!
Peruse some of the Contents titles to get an idea:
How to be a Social Capitalist
Become a Part of the Community You Serve
Eleven Ways to Create Amazing Customer Experiences
Embrace the Chaos
...and that's just a preview.
The author is living locally here in SF as a Canadian ex-pat. She is quite successful consulting, traveling and speaking, and writing. Those of us living in this area, or those involved with internet businesses, will easily relate to her narrative. My hope is that you incorporate some of the ideas (if not as many as possible) into your own business and career practices.
As an example, I joined one site mentioned in TWF: www.akoha.com
It's a cool 'game' where you can choose to do challenges of good will!
I loved the stories and examples of businesses doing it right, doing it wrong, and especially doing it wrong, admitting it, apologizing, changing, and doing it right!
Peruse some of the Contents titles to get an idea:
How to be a Social Capitalist
Become a Part of the Community You Serve
Eleven Ways to Create Amazing Customer Experiences
Embrace the Chaos
...and that's just a preview.
The author is living locally here in SF as a Canadian ex-pat. She is quite successful consulting, traveling and speaking, and writing. Those of us living in this area, or those involved with internet businesses, will easily relate to her narrative. My hope is that you incorporate some of the ideas (if not as many as possible) into your own business and career practices.
As an example, I joined one site mentioned in TWF: www.akoha.com
It's a cool 'game' where you can choose to do challenges of good will!
May 27, 2011
This was a great read, and I could feel Tara Hunt's passion in this subject coming off the pages. Relationships or Whuffie is important for curating returning customers and for them to spread the news of your business. This is even more so when we are at the stage of moving beyond social media and into social business. We need to engage more with our loyal customers and empower them to be our advocates.
Social media is one of those things that are hard to justify the ROI, similar to telephones and computers. Your business can possibly survive without them but how much more effective would it be if you embraced them instead? Businesses in the 20th century had the mentality that if we build them then the customers will come but now in the 21st century customers are demanding more and they want to be heard. Your business may not be on any social media channels but your customers are and you're missing out the chance to interact with them.
I enjoyed the samples in the book especially how they applied a BarCamp style conference to a transit situation. A great book for showing how businesses and customers can come together for the benefit of each other in this day and age.
Social media is one of those things that are hard to justify the ROI, similar to telephones and computers. Your business can possibly survive without them but how much more effective would it be if you embraced them instead? Businesses in the 20th century had the mentality that if we build them then the customers will come but now in the 21st century customers are demanding more and they want to be heard. Your business may not be on any social media channels but your customers are and you're missing out the chance to interact with them.
I enjoyed the samples in the book especially how they applied a BarCamp style conference to a transit situation. A great book for showing how businesses and customers can come together for the benefit of each other in this day and age.
Read
March 1, 2016Really good, fun read. I particularly liked Chapters 9 and 10 so book finished on high, positive note.
If you remember only 5 things Tara says
1. Turn the bullhorn around. Stop talking and start listening.
2. Become part of the community you serve and figure out who it is you are serving. It isn’t everyone. Then get out of your office and into the community.
3. Be notable and create amazing experiences for your customers. It isn’t enough to design something that works. You need to design remarkable products that people love.
4. Embrace the chaos. Don’t overplan. Learn to be more agile and recognize everyday magic.
5. Find the higher purpose. Social capital only gains in value as you give it away. Figure out how you are going to give back to the community and do it … often.
Good stuff!!
If you remember only 5 things Tara says
1. Turn the bullhorn around. Stop talking and start listening.
2. Become part of the community you serve and figure out who it is you are serving. It isn’t everyone. Then get out of your office and into the community.
3. Be notable and create amazing experiences for your customers. It isn’t enough to design something that works. You need to design remarkable products that people love.
4. Embrace the chaos. Don’t overplan. Learn to be more agile and recognize everyday magic.
5. Find the higher purpose. Social capital only gains in value as you give it away. Figure out how you are going to give back to the community and do it … often.
Good stuff!!
June 29, 2009
I love everything this book has to say about businesses making effective use of social media tools. The only thing that keeps this from being a 4 or 4-star review is the editing. I tend to think that Tara Hunt's editor did her a bit of a disservice here - the writing in places is distractingly ungrammatical, and the overall structure could be confusing for someone new to social media. (Why, for example, write a book about social media tools that doesn't explain these tools until somewhere around page 135?)
Still, it's wholly worth overlooking these elements to gain the benefit of Tara's obvious mastery of social media. If more companies were employing her techniques, it would be a lot more fun to share the social media space with them.
Still, it's wholly worth overlooking these elements to gain the benefit of Tara's obvious mastery of social media. If more companies were employing her techniques, it would be a lot more fun to share the social media space with them.
Want to read
March 17, 2009excerpt from a review...
"Money isn’t the capital of choice in online communities, it is Whuffie - social capital – and how to raise it is the heart of this book.” In the Web 2.0 world, market capital flows from having high social capital. Without Whuffie you lose your connections and any recommendation you make will be seen as spam, met with negative reactions and a loss of social capital...Tara Hunt has found, online success comes from building a community and being part of it – not by pushing a product or service. If you want to learn the secret sauce behind Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, you have to use them until you love them."
"Money isn’t the capital of choice in online communities, it is Whuffie - social capital – and how to raise it is the heart of this book.” In the Web 2.0 world, market capital flows from having high social capital. Without Whuffie you lose your connections and any recommendation you make will be seen as spam, met with negative reactions and a loss of social capital...Tara Hunt has found, online success comes from building a community and being part of it – not by pushing a product or service. If you want to learn the secret sauce behind Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, you have to use them until you love them."
October 21, 2009
Very unimpressive. I was basically an extended biography about why we should think she's so cool because she's so good at social capitalism using online media. I think she needs more friends "IRL" to counteract the online ego.
There wasn't a lot of useful information for me. I'm certainly not a social media marketing guru so I thought there'd be a lot more for me but I pretty much knew it all. There were a few websites that looked interesting but those could have been compiled in a one-page list and been just as useful to me.
There wasn't a lot of useful information for me. I'm certainly not a social media marketing guru so I thought there'd be a lot more for me but I pretty much knew it all. There were a few websites that looked interesting but those could have been compiled in a one-page list and been just as useful to me.
October 26, 2014
Goed boek over het professioneel inzetten van social media. Het is inmiddels al een paar jaar oud, maar omdat het gaat om een manier van benaderen en niet de specifieke tools die je hierbij moet gebruiken veroudert het niet zo snel als de meeste boeken over online marketing. Ik vond het zelf toegankelijk, logisch en interessant en het zette me aan het denken over hoe ik haar advies in de praktijk zou kunnen toepassen. Vol met voorbeelden, van iemand die duidelijk al veel ervaring heeft in de sector.
December 6, 2009
She's very much promoting herself. When a book about social media in late 2009 has to define what Twitter and Flickr are, I just question who the audience is if it's not a "how to." And then having to explain who Dave Weinberger is. Clearly not a book I am the audience for but I just found this wholly unimpressive. It's not where I'd send people looking for the reasons why. I'd go to, oh, Dave Weinberger.
July 30, 2010
This is one of those books that was kind of wasted on me but I think it’s good and will definitely recommend it to people. Why was it wasted on me? Because I already kind of live “The Whuffie Factor.” Open, transparent, trying to do well by doing good, being a good community member, etc, etc. I live the social media lifestyle (for lack of a better term) so there wasn’t a lot of new information in this book for me.
July 23, 2011
Some really good stuff in this book. You have to pick out the good bits, but I think the general assertion that tomorrow's winners are going to be the companies that participate genuinely in social media and contribute to the community above and beyond selling their product/service. Beyond that this book is full of good practical tips on how to operate in this brave new world, both for traditional brands and entrepreneurs building community websites.
May 22, 2011
Great content, with good examples. Was difficult to read because we live this everyday at Gangplank. It was nice to see some of our everyday articulated into the written word. If you own a company you should probably read this book to gain some insight into the future workplace and how the world of work is evolving.
November 28, 2011
This is a good book with numerous examples on harnessing Web 2.0 and social media technologies (Facebook, Twitter) to make a good business even better. I read only the first third, but I'd return to this one if I were running a business. Much of the material resonates with a book I read a few years ago by Jeff Jarvis called _What Would Google Do?_.
May 7, 2013
When I first purchased this book, I'd give it 5-stars. However, concepts are dated today. Principles are still true about social media, but you don't need this book to explain why it's important and what the potential is today. Just understand the importance of PR in brand building and you'll understand the concepts in this book and more.
June 28, 2009
An enjoyable read if you like social networking or thinking about advertising your business online. Lots of great examples of what having social capital (whuffie) can take you and your business/projects.
November 11, 2009
Tara has lots of first hand experience of managing communities and fame on the Internet. The book does a good job of showing her approach to customer-centric social network interaction. I especially liked the real-world accounts of companies and people she has worked for.
Read
August 1, 2009Read this as part of a reading group discussion at artsjournal.com/gap. It's a good introduction to the values of social networks. My group read it in regard to how its lessons can be applied to the arts -- to individual musicians and to organizations.
September 26, 2009
A decent primer on social media best practices for businesspeople who need to get up to speed fast. Not a whole lot of new material for those who've been following the trends from early on, but it is refreshing to sit down and think about this stuff in more than 140 characters.
May 19, 2010
Tara gives a GREAT overview of how social media is changing the world today through businesses and imagines how else that might affect you and the way you run your own business or organization.
It's a really great read and I recommend it.
It's a really great read and I recommend it.
February 26, 2012
Good read if you are looking at how to engage online. It should encourage people on the power of building relationships online.
I thought the writing could have used some better copy editing. I was distracted by switching of pronouns and verb tense.
I thought the writing could have used some better copy editing. I was distracted by switching of pronouns and verb tense.
May 25, 2012
Loved this book! Not a be all end all business book, but an excellent take on the new social plane of the digital landscape and it's importance for business. This book is more an attitude adjustment than a market strategy. With that in mind, I wholeheartedly recommend!
September 23, 2012
Great ideas and info here. Some of it (especially the twitter stuff) is a little out of date, but the concepts are still very valid. Glad I read it, and will spread the word to my friends in business and writing that they should too.
September 23, 2012
A step by step guide to building social capital or "whuffie" via Web 2.0 tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and other social networking sites. Full of real life examples of how companies have used and abused social media for marketing purposes.
April 19, 2013
Despite being a bit of a fluffy, flower-power guru book, I would heartily recommend this book for anyone with a business who are thinking of starting with social media. This book contains a lot of valuable lessons on do's and don'ts, backed up with a lot of anecdotes.
May 4, 2009
Great overview of the social capital ideas that run through so much of the current web community.
Feels a bit laundry-list-ish at times, but they're all good stories.
Feels a bit laundry-list-ish at times, but they're all good stories.
December 29, 2009
Very good. Love the concept of whuffie as described in Tara's book. Worthwhile for reading by digital marketing n00bs and veterans.
July 6, 2009
A bit fluffy, but has good examples of engaging online communities for business and social purposes.
July 2, 2009
The most relevant book I've read this year
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews