As I delve deeper into the issue of “reputation”, how to manage, monitor, verify, port it, etc. It seems like “reputation” very often is used interchangeable with “identity” Blogs that are supposedly about reputation almost invariably devolve into a discussion of identity and how can someone verify who they are online. But reputation and identity are two very different things and are used for very different purposes and are important to different people. I think identity is important to the “seller” in a transaction, while reputation is important to the “buyer”.

What is identity anyway? Forgoing the philosophical or psychological discussion as to what identity is for this discussion I’ll define identity in the simplest terms as “who you are” in the sense of a verifiable legal identity. You have the legal right to use the rights, privileges, resources, etc. which have been granted to that particular identity.

Share This