Amid all the hullabaloo over social media, the policy world has perhaps been the slowest to catch on. The wonks have fully embraced blogging and twittering to their followers, of course. But advocating for policy reforms rarely allows one to say that "there's an app for that."
What if there were a way to bring technology, social media, and saving together? Blippy may be the answer to this question.
This new website broadcasts, tweetlike, every electronic purchase made by its users. Users build relationships based on what they buy and, at the same time, gain information about the marketplace. Blippy calls itself a fun and easy way to see what people are buying. And at first glance it may appear that all it does is allow consumption in our society to accomplish the impressive feat of becoming even more conspicuous than it already was.
But Barbara Kiviat, writing in TIME magazine, suggests it may have the opposite function:
"If scads of people could see and comment on what I was buying, maybe I would be shamed into spending less. Could there be a practical use for the exhibitionism and groupthink of social networking?"
Could there be, indeed? Kiviat's question reveals an aspect of "social notworking" that could actually benefit those who work for a living.
The site creates a community discussion that revolves exclusively around spending, and perhaps most of the attraction is either to show off one's spending or to judge others'. A good deal of the conversation, though, revolves around who spends too much, and how they could spend less. Asset builders wanting to use social media would have to work with, not against, its shallow and popularity-based characteristics. And they might envision a similar site that focused on, say, saving one's money, as opposed to spending it.
Thus, imagine "Piggy, the social networking site that "oinks." It’s not just another iteration of twitspeak, it’s the counter-site to Blippy. With each "oink," users would share every deposit into their savings or retirement account, every foregone purchase, money-saving tips, and more. Imagine a site where the criterion that matters is the amount of wealth a user has created, not how many followers they have. Imagine social media making people want to save.
In a world where the newest thing becomes outdated in months, having community whose interest builds over time would be a valuable thing indeed.
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