Computer-Mediated Communication Reputation (Part I)

Assignment 1: Group Projects Grades on Assn 1 were all “A” – we were looking for effort and good discussion with each group. Assn 2 will be graded in a more traditional way, and we will provide guidelines at least 2 weeks in advance. 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

From Trust to Reputation: The CMC Trust Paradox: Online “Certainty” Interpersonal Trust Credit here to Nissenbaum 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

What are the Solutions to Uncertainty in CMC Environments? (revisited) Proxies and ‘inferred trustworthiness’ Institutional backing Closed Systems versus Open Systems Experiential, often negative-only reputations (not explicit) 3rd party (explicit) reputation 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication Oh no, lemons! 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Information asymmetry: Used cars After the sale. Before the sale… Buyer Seller 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication Images from khulsey.com

Computer-Mediated Communication Avner Grief : Studied Maghribi traders in the 11th century; example of a closed system of trade/exchange. 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Open versus Closed Systems 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication Fear of “exclusion” was key for Maghribi trade coalitions (according to Grief’s work) 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication Closed System Examples in CMC: Open Source System (kernel vs. GUI) Wikipedia (You cannot change anything you want? For real??) 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication “Reputation” systems Explicit Implicit Experience Ratings by others Derived from behavior “Scare quotes” because not all of these are really “reputation.” Behavior — direct, remembered experience by one user of another. Requires persistent identity; the other two do not as long as reputation score persists. Implicit — e.g., reply-to-post ratio. Aggregations of behavioral data. Explicit — users specifically asked to rate the worth or performance of others. Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 22 Direct experience of Behavior 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication + – Explicit reputation systems / Useful when: – Open system – Identity transient – Exclusion impossible Useful when: – Closed system – Identity persistent – Coalitions, no alternatives 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication How might different types of reputation systems solve the lemons problem? 11/30/2018 Computer-Mediated Communication