Finding Value in a Non-Monetary Economy

In October of 2009 we released a customizable Tumblr theme entitled M82. My intentions at the time were motivated by a desire to learn the Tumblr theme engine, polish my CSS skills, and rework the look of my personal blog. The theme was one of the first to integrate the then-new Appearance option tags, allowing for customizable fonts and images, as well as Twitter, Streampad, Disqus and Google Analytics integration directly from the Tumblr Dashboard.

M82 has been available in the Tumblr Theme Garden for about five months, and during that time the theme has organically grown an installation base of 5,150 users (and counting), including some popular sites with a significant number of followers. What I did not realize five months ago, was the important lesson I would learn regarding the value of social capital.

As defined by Wikipedia, Social capital is a sociological concept used in business, economics, organizational behavior, political science, public health and the social sciences in general to refer to connections within and between social networks. During the last decade, particularly the second-half of it, the Internet has completely revolutionized social networks. New methods of communication have emerged, more efficient and more tightly integrated than ever before. As a result, a completely new non-monetary economy based on attention and reputation has emerged.

In his book Free, Chris Anderson takes a chapter to discuss this new, non-monetary economy. He argues that the hyperlink created “a formal language for the exchange of attention and reputation, and currencies for both.” Anderson later continues:

Ideally, this transfer of reputation leaves both parties richer. Good recommendations build trust with a readership, and being recommended confers trust, too. And with trust comes traffic.

The M82 Tumblr theme was a personal project, motivated by a desire for personal growth. Development of the CSS and HTML required an investment of my time, and I directly benefited by increasing my knowledge and skill set. I also had immediate use for the final product, and continue to employ the theme for my personal blog. However, the presence of a larger network, and a means of free distribution, allowed me to maximize the value of my efforts by including a simple hyperlink in the footer, crediting the theme’s design to Airspace Workshop.

Tumblr is touted as “the easiest way to blog,” and it may very well be. Tumblr’s simplified user interface and clean design aesthetic immediately appealed to me, and I am not alone. Currently the blogging network hosts over 3.5 million users and manages over 3,000 page views per second during peak traffic. These are not Facebook numbers by any means, but it’s more than the total population of Panama, and I’m able to distribute my theme, for free, to each and every one of these users via the Tumblr Theme Garden.

In choosing to install the M82 theme, Tumblr users recognize its value, and grant us the attention of their blog’s audience. Reputation is built via the hyperlink crediting Airspace Workshop. This process is enabled through two key characteristics of the Theme Garden: First, themes are provided free of charge. Second, installation is ridiculously simple, requiring a single-click to complete.

By providing the audience and an efficient method of distribution, Tumblr dramatically multiplied M82′s potential value. Granted, if the theme did not exhibit any merit, then it probably would’ve gone unnoticed and quickly withered away. Fortunately this was not the case.

Currently, the percent of Tumblr users that have installed M82 as their theme is approximately 0.15%. That’s a tiny, tiny fraction of a number. Since it became available in October 2009, the M82 theme has contributed to a 352% increase in absolute unique visitors to our site… that number is not so negligible.

Knowing how to cultivate social capital, garner attention, and build reputation is an increasingly important skill for anyone engaged in this emerging economy. Remember, site traffic is a non-monetary measure of success, unless of course, you monetize it. Give a man a link, he’ll click-through for a day. Teach a man to link, pray he doesn’t spam you.