Trust, Reputation and the Internet

Doc

From an early age children are told not to trust strangers that they are only safe around people they know or that their parents know and trust. In a world where we now find ourselves dealing with people more and more that we don’t know over the internet how do we trust the people we are dealing with?


More and more people are interacting with strangers that they meet online be it in monetary transactions on sites such as e-bay or gumtree, meeting potential partners on internet dating or even allowing people to stay in your home with sites such as couchsurfing. Even the information you get here on Boards is based on trusting complete strangers not lying to you.


We are being asked to trust these strangers in order to get the things we want. The only way we really have to do this is based on a reputation they gain from responses from others towards them on the sites but this doesn’t really help when it’s a new user.


Most of people who are online often know not to trust everything we read but how do you ever know if a person online is trustworthy or not?


I know that on boards I am far more likely to trust the information given to me by a regular poster then someone who is new. If two people posted different answers to a question I posed and one had a large post count and early join date and the other was a relative newbie I would give the benefit of the doubt to the earlier member. Unfair as this may be.


I am also very wary ordering things online for the first time from companies I haven’t heard of before because of the fear of having my credit card details stolen.


In an internet where some people see getting someone to delete system32 as great advice for fixing any problem and where viruses, Trojan horses and internet banking scams are rampant how do you go about trusting and gaining trust online?

Wee Willy Harris

It's a good way to communicate without wee willy running the risk of getting touched up

Pdfile

you can trust me to mind all your children on the internet, just give me their contact detsails and turn a blind eye and everything will go better then expected.

RaRaRasputin

I'd say a big percentage of the regular posters here are big time into telling the most elaborate lies (not mentioning any names now), so I wouldn't necessarily trust a regular poster more than a newby because you shouldn't trust anyone!

That's not only for the internet but also real life, there can't be anyone who was never screwed over by people they thought they could trust.

Doc

RaRaRasputin wrote: »

I'd say a big percentage of the regular posters here are big time into telling the most elaborate lies (not mentioning any names now), so I wouldn't necessarily trust a regular poster more than a newby because you shouldn't trust anyone!

That's not only for the internet but also real life, there can't be anyone who was never screwed over by people they thought they could trust.

It may be true for after hours (though I don't think it is) but all the other forums I would trust the opinion of a regular above a newby.

In real life you have more to go on. You know where you meet them you know their face and most of the time their real name.

girl in the striped socks

I like the anonymity of the Internet. I don't tell lies on it but I'm also not going to give away personal info like where I'm from, post a photo etc.
If I wanted strangers to know everything about me I'd join Facebook so I could upload five thousand photos & update my status on a five minute basis.

Used in the right way the Internet is a very clever tool. Given my username it would be nigh on impossible to say who I am. However I can tell the good folks of AH that I'm expecting a bambino whilst waiting the appropriate 12 weeks to tell everyone else.
I get to share & no one knows who I am

Doc

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

Used in the right way the Internet is a very clever tool. Given my username it would be nigh on impossible to say who I am. However I can tell the good folks of AH that I'm expecting a bambino whilst waiting the appropriate 12 weeks to tell everyone else.
I get to share & no one knows who I am

But say in a couple of years time that bambino is all grown up (congratulations by the way;) ) and you want to sell a crib online that you dont need anymore and I have a bambino on the way how do I know that you wont send me that crib full of arsenic?

Is there a way to keep your anonymity but also gain a reputation on the internet as someone who is a good trustworthy person?

girl in the striped socks

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

I like the anonymity of the Internet. I don't tell lies on it but I'm also not going to give away personal info like where I'm from, post a photo etc.
If I wanted strangers to know everything about me I'd join Facebook so I could upload five thousand photos & update my status on a five minute basis.

Used in the right way the Internet is a very clever tool. Given my username it would be nigh on impossible to say who I am. However I can tell the good folks of AH that I'm expecting a bambino whilst waiting the appropriate 12 weeks to tell everyone else.
I get to share & no one knows who I am

Congratulations stripy socks! Is it mine?

keith16

Doc wrote: »

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

Used in the right way the Internet is a very clever tool. Given my username it would be nigh on impossible to say who I am. However I can tell the good folks of AH that I'm expecting a bambino whilst waiting the appropriate 12 weeks to tell everyone else.
I get to share & no one knows who I am

But say in a couple of years time that bambino is all grown up (congratulations by the way;) ) and you want to sell a crib online that you dont need anymore and I have a bambino on the way how do I know that you wont send me that crib full of arsenic?

Is there a way to keep your anonymity but also gain a reputation on the internet as someone who is a good trustworthy person?

Yes there is. Most reputable sites allow you to rate the seller. Even trip advisor tells you if the reviewer is trusted etc.

girl in the striped socks

Doc wrote: »

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

Used in the right way the Internet is a very clever tool. Given my username it would be nigh on impossible to say who I am. However I can tell the good folks of AH that I'm expecting a bambino whilst waiting the appropriate 12 weeks to tell everyone else.
I get to share & no one knows who I am

But say in a couple of years time that bambino is all grown up (congratulations by the way;) ) and you want to sell a crib online that you dont need anymore and I have a bambino on the way how do I know that you wont send me that crib full of arsenic?

Is there a way to keep your anonymity but also gain a reputation on the internet as someone who is a good trustworthy person?

Use the same username & aim for positive feedback & reviews????
I don't know tbh.
I couldn't tell you how to go about selling something on the Internet.

Chuck Stone

Liars, frauds, and cheats can't build positive reputations. I don't know anyone on boards personally and yet there are certain posters that I can just tell would care about their reputations enough that I'm confident I could trust them.

Story time.

I'm a contributor to a poker strategy forum (not so much these days) and a couple of years ago the regs were having a series of private Xmas tournaments on a poker site I hadn't yet signed up to. So I signed up to this site but it wouldn't accept my card so I said 'sorry lads won't accept my card' enjoy the tourneys.

Shortly after I got a PM from another forum reg who informed me that he'd transferred $100 into my empty account and I could return it when I got sorted! The guy had never met me outside of the forum but obviously calculated, by my posting style(?), that I was trustworthy enough to return the cash.

Cool story bro?

Wee Willy Harris

story, bro

Doc

My difficulty with seller feedback is that I don't always trust it. I have heard of people buying positive feedback and couldn't I just create other accounts on the same website to give myself positive feedback?

People also often worry about giving negative feedback about people in-case they get retaliatory negative feedback about them.

Also most reviews tend to be totally polarized online. Ordinary people don't often tend to take the time to review something unless they love it or hate it.

Doc

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Shortly after I got a PM from another forum reg who informed me that he'd transferred $100 into my empty account and I could return it when I got sorted! The guy had never met me outside of the forum but obviously calculated, by my posting style(?), that I was trustworthy enough to return the cash.

And where you?

Chuck Stone

Doc wrote: »

And where you?

Of course

Three words that don't go together: Trust , Reputation & Internet.

BBDBB

Trust on the internet? dont make me laugh

Im an executor of a will for a former government minister, when he died, he left $6.8 million in a swiss bank account. Ive been searching for years to get someone to help me ensure the money is properly distributed so that it doesnt all go into the corrupt tax system of my country but everytime I email complete strangers asking for their help and bank details they think Im a scam artist. :mad:

Feeona

Doc wrote: »

Most of people who are online often know not to trust everything we read but how do you ever know if a person online is trustworthy or not?

Well on the likes of ebay/tripadvisor you have reviews to give you an indication of whether a seller/buyer/hotel is trustworthy/good or not. Probably the same on most sites. So there is a move to ensure that transactions online are as transparent as possible. I find it interesting though that despite our advances in technology, we still rely on good old-fashioned word of mouth!

In this internet age we are seeing a move towards online communication and transaction, with a possible customer base of the world's population. Trust will always be an issue though*, so I wonder will we see a return to old values in the future, with shops setting up 'real shops' with a view to having an edge over their competitors?


*I'm looking at you trip advisor :mad:

Where To

I'm a regular user on this forum and even I dont trust a single word I write. Trust no one OP.

I've been pretty lucky I guess with tegards online buying, never had an issue, but I always do hours of research before I buy from anyone.










*job lot of 1000 penis pumps for sale. PM me for details.

Mr Benevolent

Deleted User wrote: »

Congratulations stripy socks! Is it mine?

No, it's mine. It was conceived virtually.

Where To wrote: »

job lot of 1000 penis pumps for sale. PM me for details.

Used?

kfallon

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Liars, frauds, and cheats can't build positive reputations. I don't know anyone on boards personally and yet there are certain posters that I can just tell would care about their reputations enough that I'm confident I could trust them.

Thanks :pac:

Where To

Confab wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

Congratulations stripy socks! Is it mine?

No, it's mine. It was conceived virtually.

Where To wrote: »

job lot of 1000 penis pumps for sale. PM me for details.

Used?

Rigorously tested.

Hardonraging

I really dont see the point in lying, either here or in real life, sure you can deflect and answer if you're uncomfortable with it, but why bother to lie ..

Fromthetrees

Hardonraging wrote: »

I really dont see the point in lying, either here or in real life, sure you can deflect and answer if you're uncomfortable with it, but why bother to lie ..

Lies are fairly pointless, life is pretty weird as it is, strange happenings are frequent, no need to concoct them.

BBDBB

I agree lying is a waste of time and so do my good friends Oprah Winfrey, Simon Cowell and David Beckham

kfallon

BBDBB wrote: »

I agree lying is a waste of time and so do my good friends Oprah Winfrey, Simon Cowell and David Beckham

How is Oprah these days, not seen her in months, since she left our regular Thursday evening card school in fact. If truth be told I think she got sick and tired of The Dalai Lama's 'All in' tactics. Tell her I was asking for her anyway, cheers!