Douglas Rushkoff is a guest blogger.
I spent a bit of time trying to convince Craig Newmark to develop an alternative currency with me for use, initially, on Craigslist called CraigBucks. Although he (perhaps wisely) has decided that it might be better for such a thing to arise independently of Craigslist proper, that hasn't stopped me from looking at how to take everything that works so well about transparent, local currencies (specifically, those of the LETS variety), and apply them to non-local communities with shared values.
The main trick is to have a currency that – unlike dollars, which are lent into existence by a bank – is instead worked into existence through an exchange. One person in the system is willing to be debited for what he gets from another. And everything stays completely transparent. Eventually (like in a file-sharing system) a person taking but not giving ends up in too much virtual debt to acquire more goods and services without finding something to do or trade with someone.
Coincidentally, then, I came across TipJoy, a pretty robust little system through which people can pay each other "tips" via the net, or even Twitter. Tie the TipJoy system to an alternative currency database instead of dollars, and the system should be able to work. The more transparent it is, the more people will be able to determine just what the unit of currency is worth to everyone else.
And as "Winston" suggested we call them over in a discussion at Rushkoff.com, why not call them NewMarks?
