[falcor84]

On the one hand, this is very spooky. On the other, it seems like it could be a precursor to a social currency similar to the Whuffie[0] in Cory Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom". I remember that reading that book, I couldn't help but feel that, as we move closer to a post-scarcity society, the rise of something like that would be inevitable, and might in some ways be much better than what we have now.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie

[bmn_]

Admiration and social standing as currency was used by Howard L. Myers in "All around the universe" 31 years earlier than Doctorow.

http://www.baenebooks.com/10.1125/Baen/0743436075/0743436075...

[Wingman4l7]

You could also get the other edge of the sword like with the social popularity ratings satirized in the TV show Community's "MeowMeowBeenz" app episode -- of which the real-life example, the recently released app "Peeple", was lambasted in the media recently.

[Frqy3]

I had a similar thought, though my original exposure to the concept was in Jack Vance's "To Live Forever".

[taterbase]

I think this idea is intoxicating however the problem is we don't currently live in a post-scarcity society (and I don't see that changing very soon). Inequality is still rampant and something like this could do more harm than good by preventing the pressure and change needed to to get past it.