Matt Jones posted a Powerpoint presentation by Dan Dixon about the state of the art of reputation systems, along with a link to a Kuro5hin primer on reputation systems

(Via Blackbelt Jones)

First of all, a reputation is not something that’s internal to you. Yes, it’s *your* reputation, but you don’t have a reputation with yourself per-se. Reputations only really exist within the context of your interactions with others, and therefore, a reputation can be viewed as existing in the space between you and others.

While a reputation can be thought of as distinct, separate and external to us all, it is inextricably linked to us. Reputation doesn’t exist outside of the context of the owner to which it refers. In some instances, a reputation can become so independent from us that it ‘takes on a life of its very own.’ In these cases, reputations can actually drive how we act, rather than the normal case of how we act dictating our reputation. For example, sometimes we find ourselves acting in uncharacteristic ways, many times unconsciously, just to support an external perception of who we are amongst others that is no longer true to our being.

A reputation is comprised in part of what we say and what we do, over some period of time in some particular context of an interaction with others. As an individual, I might never know all of the different facets of my reputation, just as others might also never know every aspect of my reputation. Needless to say, reputations are important to us all because they affect us in very tangible ways, serving to make our lives easier or more difficult, depending on whether they are positive or negative.