Brand Whuffie?

Last week, I introduced the term Whuffie in a presentation and went onto explain it as a concept that captures lots of the ideas about reputation-as-currency that apply to today's social web (also see Egoboo).  I also mentioned this rather splendid Whuffie ring that popped up recently.  It made me smile that I then had to emphasise that Whuffie is a fictional idea and not the latest beta roll out from the Googleplex - surely a sign of our fast moving times.  The aspect that appeals to me most about Cory Doctorow's post-scarcity currency is that the valuation system used is public opinion.  Which all sounds a bit futuristic until you think of eBay ratings.  But it was this thoughtful comment by Scott Pearson on the post below which brought Whuffie to mind with regard to brands: "I believe that Brand is a consequence of success not a prerequisite for it. Google is successful, so its brand becomes trusted. Brand is a measure of trust and expectation, not awareness!".  Which you have to say makes a lot of sense.  In a complex world people are looking out for things to trust and, more than ever, it's each other they're turning to, to try and gauge where to place that belief.