Six Degrees of Reputation: The Use and Abuse of Online Review and Recommendation Systems
Six Degrees of Reputation: The Use and Abuse of Online Review and Recommendation Systems
This chapter describes the online book reviewing and recommendation system, and analyzes the system of Amazon.com that features six discrete levels of reputation management, known as “six degrees of reputation.” At the first level, authors’ reputations and credentials accrue to their benefit, and at the next, paid editors write reviews and try to influence buyers to buy a specific book. Expert users (reviewers) write free-form reviews and compile best-of lists that are non-commercial and unbiased, and lay users (readers) rate expert user reviews on a binary usefulness scale. However, at the fifth level some reviews are highlighted and given more visibility based on the usefulness scale; at the sixth level, the expert users are credentialed on the basis of the number of reviews they post and the usefulness of their reviews. The authors also present strategies and practices of reputation management, users as active agents, and cross-influences.
Keywords: online review, reputation, book, authors, readers
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