bookclubiii: August 2009 Archives

By Devin Hurd

In no particular order, my impressions of The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt:

1) The concept of whuffie--and the creative application of evolving social networking mechanisms--is strong. It's stretched a little thin over the course of this read, but it is thought provoking nonetheless.

2) While heavy on anecdotes, it is well written. Tara Hunt establishes her own credibility on this topic through a significant dose of practicing whuffie and her impressive contacts in industry.

3) Much of the advice in this book felt backwards to me. The assumption was that marketing concepts are easy, while sincere interaction with online communities is hard. I find the opposite to be true.

4) Business writing promotes thinking of people as "customers." In the arts, I like to substitute the Anthony Braxton term: "friendly experiencers."

5) This book did continually prod me to think more about my own online presence via blogging and social network activities. Most of which I engage in without a thought toward selling or promoting anything.