Reputation & Trust_2Qs

1. How do you build up trust for online shopping?

I am reading the “reputation systems” article by Resnick and et al. The article is about pros and cons of online reputations system, like the feedback forum in e-bay. Actually, I am not a big online shopper. But when I do online shopping, I do check the others’ feedback and rating for the seller.

But I will look more closely about how the seller response to others and how quick sh/e response and how well sh/e ship and package the items. Besides, I will compare the price before I decide the buyer and how to deal with the refund. And more, I always will check the brand name product with good reputation and ask my close and trust friends before I make decision.

So for me, I cannot just trust one resource like the online rating or reputation systems to purchase goods online. I would use multiple decision making system, like my budget, price comparison, quality of the product, what type of product to buy, trust friends’ comment, online rating system, the reputation of e-business provider, shipping fee and the handle of package, etc.. So my question is for you when doing online shopping, usually what are the criteria for you to trust the buyer and place the order? What will make you decide to go shopping with the same buyer or not?

2. What is your comparison and contrast the reputation system of E-bay and Amazon?

In David & Pinch’s article “Six degrees of reputation”, they offered the reputation system from Amazon.com. They are (1) activities outside the online recommendation system, (2) paid editors providing professional, well-written, mostly positive review, (3) expert users/readers sharing non-commercial comment, (4) lay-readers’ rating on expert/paid editors, (5) lay-readers’ rating on the expert users/readers, (5) expert users being credentialed by the amount of their post.

Personally, I feel this reputation system is better the one offered by e-bay (the one discussed in Resnick and et al).It allows more resources to build up the reputation. You not just rely on the buyer and seller’s rating to each other. You will check how the real and virtual, experts and general users’ comment about the book or products. It will give me a buyer more information to make decision. So my question is how do you compare and contrast the reputation system offered by E-bay and Amazon?

Communities and Networks_Two Questions

Question 1

Besides the physical distance that make the online social networking necessary or meaningful to reduce the isolation issue, under what other contexts that people feel the online social networking make them feel connected from each other?

Why I asked this question is from my personal experience. As a international student, online social networking like Facebook, MSN live and Skype are very efficient tools for me to keep in touch with friends and family far back in home town or any other places all around the world. But for people, like students they studied in the same class or school every day and can meet each other face to face? Why some of them still use social networking to keep in touch? I am wondering what is the drive behind the behaviors.

Question 2
Golder & Donath (???) mentioned that there are two components of roles an individual plays in social contexts. One is about the person’s perception about his capacities like skills, privileges and responsibilities. Another is the about social context and others. It mainly deals with the expectation other people have on that individual and his/her behaviors. Thus my question is in an online community on the developing stage, if the trust, norms and communication devices are not yet fixed or reaching a certain level of agreement, what kind of roles or behaviors or chaos will show on that transitional period? Or usually what will you react in that kind of situation? Let say two situations one is in a new online international working project the mediator doesn’t set a good path for ice-breaking or building up the community. Second is in after-school social meeting, you use a web2.0 tools to meet people who have same hobby as you, you are a novice in building up on-line social network, some new members are just joining and you guys are learning to know each other. What will you react in the period for building the community.