ReputationShare - The Universal Reputation Service. Reward and restriction, network, global, universal, collaboration, holistic, visionary, two-way communication, interconnected, knowledge, choice, safety, peace of mind

ReputationShare

Reputation has been the basis of human decision making for thousands of years, where the actions of an individual or group have an impact on future interactions and opportunities through a ripple effect. In the online world, reputations and user ratings on services like eBay, Amazon and Digg have been highly successful at helping people make choices, share recommendations, and avoid unpleasant surprises. However, these reputation solutions are local – specific to one application or specific occurrence – and as such, they do not offer any information on that user or business in any other context. While effective in a specific environment, they offer no assistance to other sites when abusive or dishonest users choose to expand their interactions.

The power of a secure reputation system that spans thousands of social and game sites is that it can share important reputation data with companies and individuals. Each user’s identity and personal information (other than reputation-related data) is fully protected, but each person earns a reputation that accompanies them, “virtually,” everywhere they go.

What does such a Universal Reputation Service mean? In its most basic description, it allows you to open the doors wider for “respected” people than ever before, while limiting functionality for “unknown” people or the “bad actors.” It means that, naughty or nice, relevant aspects of a person’s online reputation would be known – and shown.

Users who distinguish themselves in positive ways arrive with that “positive” reputation. Strategies for rewarding such members are developed at the discretion of each site or service. Conversely, users who have behaved poorly arrive with their negative reputation. Thus, the consequences of breaking the terms of service for an online community or game or harming anyone online can be considerable, as the user cannot simply walk away from their reputation by starting with a clean slate at another site. Each service has the option of banning such users, limiting their options for a trial period, putting them on a probationary “watch list” for moderators or using other means of increased supervision. Under these conditions, it becomes considerably more difficult to be an abusive member of the online society.