Whuffie Bank

Last week, as part of the Tech Crunch 50, a new company called Whuffie Bank was launched. When I first read the name of the company, I thought it said Whiffle and that got me really excited—if it has to do with Whiffle, it's all right by me.

Its not Whiffle, though, its Whuffie, check our the article from Tech Crunch here

Essentially, the Whuffie bank is a sort of social media currency that people can earn by doing great things online. It's a pretty unique idea, but it will have to become widely accepted in order to have the impact the foudners are hoping for. I would also be interested to see what they will do to prevent fraud (setting up dummy accounts and giving yourself Whuffies). Here is what the Whuffie Bank founders have to say:

It’s a sad fact of life that many of the most insightful and helpful people on the web (and in real life, for that matter) aren’t financially rewarded for their efforts...The Whuffie Bank...wants to fix this by launching a new currency that rewards people for their positive contributions on the web.

I like where they are coming from, and I agree with the first line especially, but I am uncertain on how an intangible karma currency will reward people financially.

What do you think? Good idea? Will it work?

Being Googled

The internet is becoming more transparent. This I know. And there are books being written and seminars being taught on how to build your personal brand online. It's no secret that your name will be searched by potential employers, vendors, sales people or even dates. I search my own name on a regular basis to make sure I know exactly what others will find when they do the same. This makes sense to me, I search other's names before and after interacting with them. Its not stalking, its getting to know someone better in a social media, internets kind of world. So why did it feel so strange to SEE my name being searched by a complete stranger?

Let me explain. Today I spent a few minutes on the phone with a potential vendor. As part of our conversation, he offered to show me their product via the GoToMeeting software--For those of you unfamiliar with GoToMeeting, the software essentially allows the user to “show” their desktop to whomever they want through the gotomeeting website--. About 5 minutes into the presentation, I noticed something interesting in the search box of his google toolbar...my name. Although I should expect that he might have searched my name, it took me off guard to actually see it on the screen. This really drove the point home —ANYTHING YOU PUT ON THE WEB CAN AND WILL BE SEEN BY COMPLETE STRANGERS. I've got nothing to hide, but there is a certain sense of vurnerability that comes from actually seeing someone search your name.