I believe that a faster change in that sphere can come from more social-entrepreneurship, and the social media is there for us to facilitate this change faster.

There is a wonderful book on social entrepreneurship written by David Bornstein http://bit.ly/JcIGn.

Thanks for the interesting links.

Thanks for this post. I have finally found the time to comment, because you raise a very good point for the open and transparent community you and may of us, your readers, aspire to adopt and be a part of. It is hard to feel hopeful at times. I work in the government space, which has a change resistant culture. Many of the tenets of the Whuffie Factor are not part of the status quo of government culture, which is somewhat counter-intuitive because after all we are public servants and most agency’s stated mission is to improve society. Nonetheless, we tend to operate in walled gardens and engagement is only undertaken when necessary. We are seeing changes, but for those, like myself, it has been a frustrating road. The change process will be slow and we may see regressions. Such as the hustlers that are taking advantage of tools like Facebook, Twitter, and other social media for short term gain. It may sound dramatic, but those, like yourself, how have chosen the road for change and improvement must stay eternally vigilant because as the saying goes “Rome was not built in a day.” So we must do what we can and hope for the best.

One final note, I wanted to post a couple of link to a series of post by Rob Paterson on the FASTForward Blog regarding the Science of Emergence and its relation to Social Media. These are slightly egg heady post, but should give some evidence of the potential power of on-line communities. Thanks, Brian

Emergence posts:
Part 1 – http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2009/10/01/emergence-part-1-so-what-is-really-going-on/
Part 2 – http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2009/10/02/emergence-part-2-what-might-be-the-container-rules-for-humans/
Part 3 – http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2009/10/06/emergence-3-the-rules-a-science-our-only-chance/

The world needs more genuine people who aren’t afraid to remove their “masks” and connect with others on a meaningful level. Less noise, more signal.

“If someone screws someone else over in a small town everyone knows, but if someone screws someone else over in a big city, it’s pretty certain that they’ll get away with it.”

No accountability when you can disappear within the crowd. It’s one reason I prefer small closer communities of people, be it in my personal life or in business.

“I’m not sure what to do from here.”

I’m in the same boat. I’m finding that the success of my web design work, more and more, relates directly to the culture of the company I’m interacting with. If they are open, honest, and genuine, I can connect with them and in turn help them connect with their audience. If they are full of BS and only want to put more spin on the hustle, I usually turn down their offer of work. If I can’t create a real genuine connection between people, even on a basic level, then I’m not interested in the work.

“Instead, it gives insight into the culture that I adore just enough for hustlers to become wolf in sheep’s clothing. Is the issue too deep to disrupt it?”

I’m finding most people still have a pretty good BS detector. You can’t fake being genuine…at least not for long. Sure if you want to fake it for a quick sale, feel free to do so. But the person will eventually figure out they’ve been scammed and not return. If you want to build long term sustainable relationships, those involved need to relay values that contribute to the relationship. If they don’t, it’s not going to last. Doesn’t matter if it’s a personal relationship or a business venture.

“If you are hustling to find ways to build your business in a way that builds value for the other party, then I think the world needs more people like that.”

Steve, I wouldn’t call that hustling at all. As soon as you recognize and respect the other person to the point that you empathize with them, you’re on your way to building a genuine relationship. Most hustlers only care about themselves and their own interests. Thus even though they may be talking to you, you can often sense a feeling of disconnect or detachment amongst them. There aren’t really there but instead in their head thinking about profits. Or put another way, they aren’t contributing to the conversation at hand but instead just broadcasting their own agenda. This is something I’m seeing quite a lot on blogs today. People very rarely recognize and respond to one another on blogs (and this even includes the blog author as well). Almost makes me want to stop commenting and just email people instead.

“…the word “hustle” has multiple meanings…”

Well said Kathy. That’s something I’ve been noticing more and more as well. Everyone has a different vocabulary and meaning behinds the words they use. I mean “community” is getting so overused today that people don’t even know what it means. I actually had a guy the other day who asked me if I had a picture in my portfolio that relayed “community” and I almost laughed out loud at him. Community isn’t something you see so much as something you feel. It’s why the best community moderators don’t even have to ask if something is wrong in a community, they just know. Again back to the ability to empathize and connect with people on an emotional and meaningful level. You can’t fake that.

The good news is that as tools improve we will get better protection. I actually know people who want to be ‘hustled’ and deliberately sign up for all kinds of free stuff knowing they will be spammed on and offline, so it takes all kinds. Also I am not all sure this is a small town/ big town thing. I have lived in both, and while subtle the hustle is everywhere, and maybe harder to disregard in a small town.

Meantime what should idealists do. Can’t help with offline, but online I maximise adblock, careful use of privacy settings wherever I sign up, and maximisation of gmail filters. They can talk but you don’t have to listen is my motto.

Just my take, and only my perspective. Keep up the good fight!

Patience, grasshopper.

The folks we spoke to loved to tell others about their great experiences. Those others included “strangers” – e.g. telling others for the “common good”.

But when it comes to bad experiences, they didn’t like telling others – with a few exceptions. They would tell their close acquaintances, and a few would shout it to the world – a very few. Most just want to forget about it and chalk up the experience as something to watch out for next time.

I’ve visited some… hmmm… see, I even have a hard time labeling them. I’ll just say they are not people that I would hire to do a job for me. I would never call them out. Part of it is fear of some sort of retribution. Back in the early days of the web – I did call someone out. And then I received some death threats.

Not that THAT has happened to a lot of people, but still, it’s an underlying fear that came out in our studies. It’s easy to talk about people you like. It’s harder, and more dangerous (real or imagined), to talk about the folks you don’t like.

- Matt

After all, what is great entrepreneurism but seeing a need and filling it?

But what happens when somebody wants to work their ass off to get ahead, and does it in a way that creates mutual benefits for each other? What happens when people like you, Mitch Joel, and Gary Vaynerchuk come along?

I truly think the key is in what you are hustling for. If you are hustling to find ways to build your business in a way that builds value for the other party, then I think the world needs more people like that.

Perhaps it’s time to start hustling for the right things?