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 Wesleyan University The Honors College
Distributed Consolidation:Identity, Reputation, and the Prospects forOnline Social Interaction
byAlex RosenClass of 2008A thesis submitted to thefaculty of Wesleyan Universityin partial fulfillment of the requirements for theDegree of Bachelor of Artswith Departmental Honors from the College of Social Studies
Middletown, Connecticut April, 2008
 
T
ABLE
 
OF
C
ONTENTS
 
 Acknowledgements
......................................................................................................2 
 Introduction
.................................................................................................................4I.
T
HEORY
...................................................................................................................131. Trust...................................................................................................................142. Identity and Reputation......................................................................................193. Signals: From the Wild to the Web....................................................................304. Game Theoretic Model.......................................................................................345. Conclusions........................................................................................................50II.
E
B
AY
.....................................................................................................................521. eBay's Reputation System..................................................................................562. Problems.............................................................................................................673. Conclusion
S
........................................................................................................72III.
W
ORLD
 
OF
W
ARCRAFT
.........................................................................................751. World of Warcraft's Reputation System............................................................822. Problems.............................................................................................................923. Conclusions........................................................................................................97IV.
F
ACEBOOK 
.........................................................................................................1011. Facebook's Reputation System........................................................................1082. Problems..........................................................................................................1153. Conclusions......................................................................................................121V.
R 
EPUTATION
C
ONSOLIDATION
..............................................................................1251. Why the Internet Needs a Consolidated Reputation System............................1252. Emerging Consolidation Standards and Their Problems.................................1313. The Distributed Oracle.....................................................................................1474. Problems...........................................................................................................1555. Conclusion
S
......................................................................................................159
Conclusion
.............................................................................................................163
 Endnotes
.................................................................................................................169
Works
 
Cited 
............................................................................................................178
 
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 Likeachild,ittakesavillagetoraiseathesis,andthisoneisnoexception.Nowthatitisallgrownup,I'dliketotakethisspacetothankafewofthepartiestowhomIammost indebted, though I will no doubt forget a few–to those, I apologize.Firstandforemost,IexpressmydeepestgratitudetomyadvisorProfessorRichardAdelstein.Hiswisdominalltopics,thesisandotherwise,wasinvaluableoverthe pastyears.FromtheSophomoreCSSEconomicsTutorialtotalksinhisofficethisspring,ProfessorAdelsteinhasalwaysbeenwillingtoimparthisknowledgeandof-feradvice.Heknewwhentopush,whentobackoff,andwhentogivepraise.Thisthesis would not have been possible without him.TheSurdnaFoundationprovidedgeneroussupportintheformofaDavenportStudyGranttostartworkonthisthesisoverthesummer.EddanKatzandYaleUniversitysupportedmyattendanceatTheReputationEconomiesinCyberspaceSymposiumatYaleLawSchool,aconferencethatprovedtobeparticularlyusefulinformulatingmy ideas and exposing me to academics in the field.EveryprofessorandmentorIhavehadovertheyearsdeservesrecognition.Iampar-ticularlyindebtedtoProfessorGilSkillman,whohelpedmeworkthroughmuchof thegametheoryandwasalltooreadytopokeholesinmydevelopingargument.ThanksalsotoProfessorCherieSteele,whogavememyfirstopportunitytoacadem-icallyengagewiththeInternetinherCSSJuniorTutorial.ProfessorCeciliaMiller deservesmygratitudeaswellforworkingmetothegroundsophomoreyear,alwayskeepingherdooropenforadvice,andgenerallybeingthefirstpersonthatcomestomindwhenIthinkofmyacademiccareeratWesleyan.Iwouldalsoliketoacknowl-edge Professors Rosenblat, Fay, and Paquette.IamgratefultotheCollegeofSocialStudiesingeneral,whosestudentsandfacultyhavemademyWesleyanexperiencewhatitwas.Everyclassandlatenightdiscus-
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