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"I don't know why I write science fiction. The voices in my head told me to!"
- Charles Stross

Whuffie  
  A system in which one's actions, as perceived by others, directly procure the necessities of life; reputation-based currency.  

Whuffie recaptured the true essence of money: in the old days, if you were broke but respected, you wouldn't starve; contrariwise, if you were rich and hated, no sum could buy you security and peace. By measuring the thing that money really represented — your personal capital with your friends and neighbors — you more accurately gauged your success
From Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow.
Published by Tor in 2003
Additional resources -

Here's an example of how it works:

When I got down to the Contemporary's parking lot, my runabout was gone. A quick check with the handheld revealed the worst: my Whuffie was low enough that someone had just gotten inside and driven away, realizing that they could make more popular use of it than I could. With a sinking feeling, I trudged up to my room and swiped my key through the lock. It emitted a soft, unsatisfied _bzzz_ and lit up, "Please see the front desk." My room had been reassigned, too. I had the short end of the Whuffie stick. At least there was no mandatory Whuffie check on the monorail platform, but the other people on the car were none too friendly to me, and no one offered me an inch more personal space than was necessary. I had hit bottom.

This strikes me as a digital version of Jack Vance's analog strakh.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
  More Ideas and Technology by Cory Doctorow
  Tech news articles related to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
  Tech news articles related to works by Cory Doctorow

Whuffie-related news articles:
  - The Whuffie Bank: Reputation-Based Currency
  - China Social Credit System Like State-Run Whuffie

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