Real Time: A Community Building Blog

There’s been a lot of talk – maybe too much talk  – about how social media is the Next Great Thing for the nonprofit world.

The web has never had a very high signal-to-noise ratio, but in my 20-plus years of internet use, I’ve never seen anything like the garbage peddled by self-declared social media gurus. In their world, everybody should jump on the social media bandwagon right now, and they will lead the way…for a small fee.

I’m not going to add to the noise, but I will tell you that whatever you decide to do with social media, don’t think of the desired outcome in terms like return on investment or social capital. It’s really all about Whuffie.

Whuffie is a term coined by author Cory Doctorow in his 2003 novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Whuffie is a measurement of reputation, and it’s gained or lost by how the public regards your actions.

So, how do you gain--or lose--Whuffie in the world of social media?

You gain Whuffie by regularly posting entertaining, relevant content. Know your target audience. Know what’s important to them. Get them thinking, and maybe even chuckling.

You gain Whuffie by remembering the social in social media. Be a part of the conversation. Listen, answer, and share; don’t just talk.

The easiest way to lose Whuffie is blatant self-promotion. Nobody wants to see 15 posts a day from you that read “♥♥ http://mywebsite.com/ is THE best site ever! Check it out! ♥♥” (Sadly, this is a real post. Identifying details have been removed to protect the guilty.)

You lose Whuffie by ignoring the Who Cares? Factor. Nobody wants to read your Master’s thesis in 500-word installments. Your readers also don’t care about strategic plans or anything that involves verbifying nouns.

In the ephemeral-yet-eternal world of social media, it’s easy to lose Whuffie and hard to regain it. Take a step back before you hit the POST button and ask yourself: Whom do I want to reach? Is this content relevant to those people? Can I have an intelligent conversation on this subject? If the answer to all these questions is “yes,” then post away!

Whatever you do out there, have fun with it … and watch your Whuffie!

JaneA Kelley is a communications and marketing associate at MaineCF. Her internet experience dates back to the dark ages of Usenet forums and includes a six-year stint as a web courseware developer. She is the developer and author of a popular cat advice blog.