The next social revolution
Mobile communication, pervasive computing, wireless networks, collective action.
Bibliography
View by Chapter: The Evolution of ReputationTitle: The Social Cost of Cheap Pseudonyms
Author: Eric J. Friedman and Paul Resnick
Publication: Working paper. An earlier version was presented at the 1998 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. Accepted for publication in the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy
Abstract or Excerpt: We consider the problems of societal norms for cooperation and reputation when it is possible to obtain "cheap pseudonyms", something which is becoming quite common in a wide variety of interactions on the Internet. This introduces opportunities to misbehave without paying reputational consequences. A large degree of cooperation can still emerge, through a convention in which newcomers "pay their dues" by accepting poor treatment from players who have established positive reputations. One might hope for an open society where newcomers are treated well, but there is an inherent social cost in making the spread of reputations optional. We prove that no equilibrium can sustain significantly more cooperation than the dues-paying equilibrium in a repeated random matching game with a large number of players in which players have finite lives and the ability to change their identities, and there is a small but nonvanishing probability of mistakes.
Subjects: Cooperation, Reputation Systems
Keywords: cheap pseudonyms,
Title: The Emergence of Exchange Structures: An Experimental Study of Uncertainty, Commitment, and Trust
Author: Peter Kollock
Publication: American Journal of Sociology. Sep 1994. volume 100, issue 2. 313-45
Abstract or Excerpt: An experiment was conducted with 80 undergraduates in Los Angeles, CA, to investigate the effects of uncertainty on patterns of exchange. The importance of reputation to the formation of stable exchange relations is examined, along with some of the consequences of different patterns of exchange - in particular, how different exchange conditions lead to different levels of trust among trading partners. Results indicate significant differences in the level of commitment, concern for one's own & others' reputation, & the level of trust that emerge when uncertainty (in the form of information asymmetries) is varied.
Subjects: Cooperation, Reputation Systems
Keywords: trust, social exchange theory, network analysis, uncertainty, commitment
Title: Free Haven
Author: Roger Dingledine, Michael J. Freedman, and David Molnar
Publication: Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies, Andy Oram (Editor), O'Reilly & Associates, 2001
Abstract or Excerpt: The Free Haven Project is dedicated to designing a system of anonymous storage that resists the attempts of powerful adversaries to find or destroy any stored data.
Subjects: Collective Computation, Cooperation, Emerging Technologies (ET), P2P, Reputation Systems, Ubiquitous Computing
Keywords: Free Haven, accountability, buddy system, pseudonyms, anonymity, persistence, flexibility
Title: Trust
Author: Marc Waldman, Lorrie Faith Cranor, and Avi Rubin
Publication: Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies, Andy Oram (Editor), O'Reilly & Associates, 2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a well-known tool for encrypting files and email. It also allows individuals to sign and verify files. Rather than having to trust a third party, the CA, PGP allows individuals to create their own certificates. These certificates by themselves are not very helpful when trying to verify someone's identity: however, other people can sign the certificates. People that know you can sign your certificate, and you in turn can sign their certificates. If you receive a certificate from someone you don't trust, you can check the signatures on the certificate and see if you trust any of them. Based on this information you can decide if you wish to trust the certificate. This is a trust system based on intermediaries, and it forms what is called the "web of trust."
Subjects: Collective Computation, Cooperation, Emerging Technologies (ET), P2P, Privacy, Reputation Systems, Ubiquitous Computing
Keywords: web of trust, Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), encryption, trust
Title: Accountability
Author: Roger Dingledine, Michael J. Freedman, and David Molnar
Publication: Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies, Andy Oram (Editor), O'Reilly & Associates, 2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Without a way to protect against the tragedy of the commons, collaborative networking rests on shaky ground. Peers can abuse the protocol and rules of the system in any number of ways such as the following: 1. Providing corrupted or low-quality information 2. Reneging on promises to store data 3. Going down during periods when they are needed 4. Claiming falsely that other peers have abused the system in these ways. These problems must be addressed before peer-to-peer systems can achieve lasting success. Through the use of various accountability measures, peer-to-peer systems - including systems that offer protection for anonymity - may continue to expand as overlay networks through the existing Internet.
Subjects: Collective Computation, Cooperation, Emerging Technologies (ET), Gaming, P2P, Reputation Systems, Ubiquitous Computing
Keywords: accountability, Seti, Advogato, open source, trust metric, Ultima Online, pseudospoofing
Title: Reputation
Author: Richard Lethin
Publication: Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies, Andy Oram (Editor), O'Reilly & Associates, 2001
Abstract or Excerpt: In this chapter, I will present a commercial system called the Reputation Server TM* that tries to bring everyday aspects of reputation and trust into online transactions. While not currently organized in a peer-to-peer fashion itself, the service has the potential to become more distributed and prove useful to peer-to-peer systems as well as traditional online businesses.
Subjects: Collective Computation, Cooperation, Emerging Technologies (ET), Gaming, P2P, Reputation Systems, Ubiquitous Computing
Keywords: reputation, game theorists, Reputation Server, pseudonym
Title: Sociology of Cellular Phones: The Nordic Model
Author: J.P. Roos, University of Helsinki
Publication: Telecommunications policy, Vol. 17, No. 6 (August 1993)
Abstract or Excerpt: A History of the mobile phone in Finland. Introduction The telephone is historically the invention which made immediate interpersonal communication and interaction independent of the physical distance between the interlocutors (Ronell 1989). This change in the nature of personal interaction is one of the most important developments since the introduction of letter writing, which itself has come closer to telephonic communication with the advent of electronic mail, telefax, answering machines, etc. To this immediacy of communication, regardless of distance, can, since the introduction of mobile (or cellular) telephones be added independence from location: a telephonic discussion can be initiated and accepted practically anywhere, in the car, on the streets, in the nature. This irreversible change in the mobility of both the ear and the mouth is certainly as dramatic as was the telephone originally. This new freedom of movement (and even nomadism, a deliberate lack of permanent living place, discussed by de Gournay 1991), is a very important qualitative step.
Subjects: Helsinki, Mobile Phones, Sociology, Wireless
Keywords: Finland,
Title: Disseminating Trust Information in Wearable Communities
Author: Jay Schneider, Gerd Kortuem, Joe Jager, Steve Fickas, Zary Segall
Publication: International Conference on Wireless and Handheld Computing, 2000
Abstract or Excerpt: This paper describes a framework for managing and distributing trust information in a community of mobile and wearable computer users. Trust information in the form of reputations are used to aid users during their social interactions with the rest of the community.
Subjects: Emerging Technologies (ET), Mobile Phones, Reputation Systems, Ubiquitous Computing, Wireless
Keywords: wearable computing, social networks, social interaction, trust, Wearable Communities, reputation, pervasive computing
Title: Auranet: Trust and Face-to-Face Interactions in a Wearable Community
Author: Jay Schneider, Gerd Kortuem, Dustin Preuitt, Steve Fickas, Zary Segall
Publication: Submitted to: Fifth International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC), Oct 8-9, 2001, Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract or Excerpt: This paper continues our work on wearable communities. We examine one facet of a wearable community, the Auranet, a framework for structuring encounters in social space based on reputations and trust.
Subjects: Cooperation, Emerging Technologies (ET), Mobile Phones, Reputation Systems, Ubiquitous Computing, Wireless
Keywords: Auranet, Trust, Face-to-Face Interactions, Wearable Community, Wearable Computing, reputation, pervasive computing, radio frequency (RF), mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET), WALID, FriendFinder, aura, Liveware, AuraSMS
Title: Reward and punishment in minigames
Author: Karl Sigmund, Christoph Hauert, and Martin A. Nowak
Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 98, Issue 19, 10757-10762, September 11, 2001
Publication Date: 3/15/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Minigames capturing the essence of Public Goods experiments show that even in the absence of rationality assumptions, both punishment and reward will fail to bring about prosocial behaviour. This holds in particular for the well-known Ultimatum Game, which emerges as a special case. But reputation can induce fairness and cooperation in populations adapting through learning or imitation. Indeed, the inclusion of reputation effects in the corresponding dynamical models leads to the evolution of economically productive behaviour, with agents contributing to the public good and either punishing those who don't, or rewarding those who do. Reward and punishment correspond to two types of bifurcation with intriguing complementarity. The analysis suggests that reputation is essential for fostering social behaviour among selfish agents, and that it is considerably more effective with punishment than with rewards.
Subjects: The Evolution of Reputation
Title: How 'Reputation Managers' Make Web Markets Possible
Author: Brian Livingston
Publication: E-Business Secrets, InfoWorld.com
Publication Date: 10/25/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: A study by a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reveals that the importance of the "reputation managers" used by eBay.com and numerous other e-commerce sites and proposes a novel method to ensure that a few users can't "stuff the ballot box" to distort the ratings.
Subjects: The Evolution of Reputation
Keywords: eBay, reputation managers, MIT, Chrysanthos Dellarocas, trust
Title: Building Trust On-Line: The Design of Reliable Reputation Reporting Mechanisms for Online Trading Communities
Author: Chrysanthos Dellarocas
Publication: eBusiness@MIT, July 2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Several properties of online interaction are challenging the accumulated wisdom of trading communities on how to produce and manage trust. Online reputation reporting systems have emerged as a promising trust management mechanism in such settings. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the construction of online reputation reporting systems that are robust in the presence of unfair and deceitful raters. The paper sets the stage by providing a critical overview of the current state of the art in this area. Following that, it identifies a number of important ways in which the reliability of the current generation of reputation reporting systems can be severely compromised by unfair buyers and sellers. The central contribution of the paper is a number of novel "immunization mechanisms" for effectively countering the undesirable effects of such fraudulent behavior. The paper describes the mechanisms, proves their properties and explains how various parameters of the marketplace microstructure, most notably the anonymity and authentication regimes, can influence their effectiveness. Finally, it concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for the managers and users of current and future electronic marketplaces and identifies some important open issues for future research.
Subjects: The Evolution of Reputation
Keywords: production of trust, recommender systems, eBay, Collaborative filtering techniques, ratings, controlled anonymity
Title: Online Community Technologies and Concepts
Author: Cameron Barrett
Publication: Camworld.com
Publication Date: 12/19/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Reputation Management: Reputation management is one of the areas that is getting pretty hot in the online community management space. The best example of this is a site called Advogato http://www.advogato.org/. It's basically a site where registered members can post articles and essays they've written for discussion. It's similar to Slashdot but without the news bent. The most interesting thing about Advogato is the reputation management aspect called the "trust metric" http://www.advogato.org/trust-metric.html that lets users certify other users at one of four experience levels. Since this site is a community of mostly open-source software developers, the peer certification is mapped to that aspect of expertise. There's no reason why this trust metric couldn't be mapped differently for a different community.
Subjects: The Evolution of Reputation
Keywords: Avocato Trust Metric, Reputation Management,
Title: Prosperity through punishment: Retribution can breed cooperation
Author: John Whitfield
Publication: Nature
Publication Date: 1/10/2002
Abstract or Excerpt: Notions of fairness may outweigh selfish considerations. "Cooperation can flourish if the public-spirited majority can punish freeloaders, say Swiss economists. People will pay to punish - suggesting that their notions of fairness outweigh selfish considerations. The work may help explain why people cooperate in society."
Subjects: Cooperation, Reputation Systems
Keywords: cooperation, Herbert Gintis, fairness, selfishness
Title: The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier
Author: Howard Rheingold
Publication: Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1993
Title: Virtual Communities
Author: Howard Rheingold
Publication: Whole Earth Review, 1988
Title: Using Collaborative Filtering to Weave an Information Tapestry
Author: David Goldberg, et al.
Publication: Communications of the ACM 35(12), December 1992, 61-70
Title: Usenet FAQ Archive
Title: GroupLens: An Open Architecture for Collaborative Filtering of Netnews
Author: Paul Resnick et al.
Publication: Proceedings of ACM 1994 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 1994, 175-186
Abstract or Excerpt: Collaborative filters help people make choices based on the opinions of other people. GroupLens is a system for collaborative filtering of netnews, to help people find articles they will like in the huge stream of available articles. News reader clients display predicted scores and make it easy for users to rate articles after they read them. Rating servers, called Better Bit Bureaus, gather and disseminate the ratings. The rating servers predict scores based on the heuristic that people who agreed in the past will probably agree again. Users can protect their privacy by entering ratings under pseudonyms, without reducing the effectiveness of the score prediction. The entire architecture is open: alternative software for news clients and Better Bit Bureaus can be developed independently and can interoperate with the components we have developed.
Title: MovieLens
Abstract or Excerpt: MovieLens is a research site run by the GroupLens Research group at the University of Minnesota. MovieLens uses "collaborative filtering" technology to make recommendations of movies/videos that you might enjoy, and to help you avoid the ones that you won't. The predictions you get are personalized to your tastes, which are learned by asking you to rate movies that you have seen before.
Title: Revenge of the Know-It-Alls
Author: Mark Frauenfelder
Publication: Wired 8.07
Publication Date: 7/2000
Abstract or Excerpt: Inside the Web's free-advice revolution.
Title: Web Sites Begin to Self Organize
Author: Katie Hafner
Publication: The New York Times
Publication Date: 1/18/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Web sites with mechanisms for self-filtering, self-ranking and self-organization are very likely to continue to grow in number.
Title: Blogger
Abstract or Excerpt: Blogger is the quickest and easiest way to post to your web site - no matter where it's hosted - or to create a site from scratch and keep it updated.
Title: Blah, Blah, Blah, and Blog
Author: Farhad Manjoo
Publication: Wired News
Publication Date: 2/18/2002
Abstract or Excerpt: There's perhaps no better proof that an idea has gained the attention of the mainstream than a mention on National Public Radio. For blogging, that happened Wednesday -- and NPR's three-minute piece on how weblogging is transforming journalism was just one more sign that blogging has outgrown its underground trendiness.
Title: Digital Renaissance
Author: Henry Jenkins
Publication: Technology Review
Publication Date: 3/2002
Abstract or Excerpt: Online diarists rule an Internet strewn with failed dot coms.
Title: Slashdot FAQ
Title: eBay
Abstract or Excerpt: Founded in September 1995, eBay is the leading online marketplace for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and businesses. Today, the eBay community includes 49.7 million registered users, and is the most popular shopping site on the Internet when measured by total user minutes according to Media Metrix.
Title: Communities in Cyberspace
Author: Peter Kollock and Marc A. Smith
Publication: New York: Routledge, 1999
Title: How to Certify Public Keys Without a Central Authority
Author: William Stallings
Publication: Byte
Publication Date: 2/1995
Title: Why Hunter-Gatherers Work: An Ancient Version of the Problem of Public Goods
Author: Kirsten Hawkes
Publication: Current Anthropology 34 (4), 1993, 341-361