whuffie

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Coined by Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author Cory Doctorow in the novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (2003). Popularized by Tara Hunt in the non-fiction book The Whuffie Factor (2009).

Noun[edit]

whuffie (uncountable)

  1. (Internet, neologism) A type of social capital or reputation, especially within an online community.
    • 2010, Mark Durieux, Robert Stebbins, Social Entrepreneurship For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 188:
      On the photo-sharing site Flickr, for example, your whuffie might go up with the number of photos you post, the tags you place on photos, the helpful comments you make about other people's photos, the number of useful galleries you create, and so on.