"attention-wealth"

Check out this thread by Gothwalk the pagan Irishmen here on live journal that I butted in on via trackback.
It is a good focus on something I had forgotten: The social currency of what he termed as "attention-wealth", or what we cowboys call in these parts of meatspace "Whuffie". The talking points being:
• The value of good social standing and support as opposed to the traditional currency of money
• A timely system for crediting that value to people.
So the question I have: is there warranted social change enough to support a new focus on social capital that would result in a system as suggested by Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom? Or is this a silly nerd notion that should be placed aside Star Trek enthusiasts fantasizing about transporters and holodecks (as Tim Oren suspects)? Another possible angle is that there is no such monumental change or shift in society, and that the profound change is in the ability through technology to quantify "attention-wealth". In which case I say let the revolution begin.