Developing Social Environments Axel Bruns [email_address] KCB202

Why Do You Need to Know This? Maintaining community spaces: need to ensure community participation once established moderation, conflict resolution, recognition of key contributors potential to recruit community leaders as admins and staff career opportunities on both sides need for space admins to maintain good community relations important to participate as ‘regular’ user Maintaining your own status within community spaces: need to be aware of how your participation is tracked and evaluated peer assessment of your contributions, personal karma scores need to understand the potential long-term effect of your actions contributions and rankings may persist and may affect your future reputation

Maintaining community spaces:

need to ensure community participation once established

moderation, conflict resolution, recognition of key contributors

potential to recruit community leaders as admins and staff

career opportunities on both sides

need for space admins to maintain good community relations

important to participate as ‘regular’ user

Maintaining your own status within community spaces:

need to be aware of how your participation is tracked and evaluated

peer assessment of your contributions, personal karma scores

need to understand the potential long-term effect of your actions

contributions and rankings may persist and may affect your future reputation

Reputation and Trust Community dynamics: all communities have leaders, regular members, outsiders, … standing in the community is measured through social status social status is based on factors including: visibility in the community – strength of a member’s networks quality and consistency of contributions fit with overall community goals, ideas, beliefs, values members with high social status are most trusted they are leaders and may influence other members’ views members with low social status are treated with suspicion they may be marginalised or excluded from full participation status and leadership can be competitive, and may change frequently

Community dynamics:

all communities have leaders, regular members, outsiders, …

standing in the community is measured through social status

social status is based on factors including:

visibility in the community – strength of a member’s networks

quality and consistency of contributions

fit with overall community goals, ideas, beliefs, values

members with high social status are most trusted

they are leaders and may influence other members’ views

members with low social status are treated with suspicion

they may be marginalised or excluded from full participation

status and leadership can be competitive, and may change frequently

Contributor Karma reputation systems: used by many online community sites to measure social status process of constant peer assessment (of contributions and contributors) member contributions are rated by others e.g. star system ( ●●●○○) e.g. adjectives (interesting, insightful, funny, off-topic, flamebait) or less overt, more implicit evaluation and rating systems ratings determine visibility of contributions highest-rated most visible, lowest-rated hidden from view ratings influence contributor’s ‘karma score’ poor karma may limit ability to contribute, or make contributions less visible also combination with social networking (friending) systems having friends with good/bad karma may affect own karma

reputation systems:

used by many online community sites to measure social status

process of constant peer assessment (of contributions and contributors)

member contributions are rated by others

e.g. star system ( ●●●○○)

e.g. adjectives (interesting, insightful, funny, off-topic, flamebait)

or less overt, more implicit evaluation and rating systems

ratings determine visibility of contributions

highest-rated most visible, lowest-rated hidden from view

ratings influence contributor’s ‘karma score’

poor karma may limit ability to contribute, or make contributions less visible

also combination with social networking (friending) systems

having friends with good/bad karma may affect own karma

Karma Questions problems with reputation systems: poorly designed systems may be ‘gamed’: creation of dummy accounts (‘sock puppets’) to boost karma ratings of a contributor’s main account malicious negative ratings to damage a contributor’s reputation karma obsessions: some users focus only on racking up karma scores (‘karma whoring’), not on making constructive contributions karma may be too generic: problems with connecting karma to specific topical areas should a Wikipedia expert in climate change also be respected in quantum physics? problems with measuring karma changes over time build in a gradual loss of established karma unless regularly refreshed? karma may be too specific: problems in transferring reputation scores from one site to another should a respected Wikipedia contributor also have good karma in Second Life ?

problems with reputation systems:

poorly designed systems may be ‘gamed’:

creation of dummy accounts (‘sock puppets’) to boost karma ratings of a contributor’s main account

malicious negative ratings to damage a contributor’s reputation

karma obsessions:

some users focus only on racking up karma scores (‘karma whoring’), not on making constructive contributions

karma may be too generic:

problems with connecting karma to specific topical areas

should a Wikipedia expert in climate change also be respected in quantum physics?

problems with measuring karma changes over time

build in a gradual loss of established karma unless regularly refreshed?

karma may be too specific:

problems in transferring reputation scores from one site to another

should a respected Wikipedia contributor also have good karma in Second Life ?

Beyond Specific Sites Where do reputation scores stop? projects to collate and combine karma scores across multiple sites aiming to achieve better karma portability across sites could bad karma in key sites affect: your social standing in everyday (offline) life? e.g. Facebook pages of politicians, sports stars, celebrities your employment prospects? e.g. controversial statements on blogs, Wikipedia your credit rating? e.g. bad seller/buyer flag on eBay if so – is this good or bad? question of balancing transparency and privacy also need to have means of addressing errors or deliberate untruths

Where do reputation scores stop?

projects to collate and combine karma scores across multiple sites

aiming to achieve better karma portability across sites

could bad karma in key sites affect:

your social standing in everyday (offline) life?

e.g. Facebook pages of politicians, sports stars, celebrities

your employment prospects?

e.g. controversial statements on blogs, Wikipedia

your credit rating?

e.g. bad seller/buyer flag on eBay

if so – is this good or bad?

question of balancing transparency and privacy

also need to have means of addressing errors or deliberate untruths