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F. Randall Farmer and Bryce Glass O'Reilly Media , 2010 , 336pp ., $39.99/£30.99 ,
ISBN: 978-0596159795
How do you solve a problem like motivation? According to Randy Farmer and Bryce Glass, the cure is a reputation system. Their new book is an important voice in the conversation between technology and innovation management and organizational behavior.
The academic and practical literature concerning computer-mediated communication and online communities is long established, as are the psychological theories of motivation and the sociological explanation of social dilemmas. Although aimed at an audience of IT architects and software engineers, Building Web Reputation Systems contributes some controversial claims and fascinating case evidence to the consideration of incentives and rewards.
The preface and introduction to Chapter 1, 'Reputation Systems are Everywhere', promises to address the problems of scale, quality, engagement, and moderation that plague new and established communities alike. Part 1, 'Reputation Defined and Illustrated', is suitably comprehensive. The definition (and its excellent graphical representation, as available in the online companion) separates reputation from related constructs such as status and network centrality - a distinction that is natural and necessary.1 Next appears 'A (Graphical) Grammar for Reputation' (Chapter 2), which features the types of figures that are this book's primary strength. Although based on the incorrect premise that the majority of the population thinks quantitatively about reputation, the chapter successfully argues for consideration of reputation in all parts of the community (Input,...