Your online reputation is quickly becoming the new credit report.
Whether for a business or an individual, what is being said about you on the Internet carries more weight than ever. And depending on what is being said, it has the potential to make or break your credibility to do business.
The new credit scoreWith the sharing economy expanding and on-demand services booming, there are more rating and review systems being established to help people decide whom to do business with, said Karissa Sparks, the vice president of marketing at the reputation management firm Reputation.com.
But businesses aren't the only ones getting a review. Consumers are also being given a score for their behavior.
"We are moving to these disruptive services like AirBnb and Uber and others that are part of the sharing economy. Companies are collecting data about you, including the reviews companies are writing about you, which will be more powerful than your credit score, ultimately. It will determine if you are able to do business in the reputation economy," Sparks said.
The reputation economy is basically the notion that as we increasingly live more of our lives online, our credibility will become more dependent on our digital footprint. While this includes what is being said about people on social networks, e-commerce websites and news sites, it can also be applied to more recent review systems such as those that are featured in on-demand service apps.
For example, Uber not only requires the customer to rate their driver after their ride but also has the driver give a rating to the passenger based on their behavior. The car-hailing app Lyft has a similar policy, and if a customer has a low rating, the driver may choose not to accept the request for a ride.
While companies such as Ebay and Amazon have had systems in place for helping to establish trust between buyers and sellers for a while, more companies are trying new ways to rate people using their online data.
The start-up TrustCloud, for example, uses a person's social accounts and other data to establish their level of trustworthiness on peer-to-peer networks. And Klout uses social media analytics to measure and rank a person's online influence.
Excerpt of article by Cadie Thompson, posted on cnbc.com
Whether for a business or an individual, what is being said about you on the Internet carries more weight than ever. And depending on what is being said, it has the potential to make or break your credibility to do business.
The new credit scoreWith the sharing economy expanding and on-demand services booming, there are more rating and review systems being established to help people decide whom to do business with, said Karissa Sparks, the vice president of marketing at the reputation management firm Reputation.com.
But businesses aren't the only ones getting a review. Consumers are also being given a score for their behavior.
"We are moving to these disruptive services like AirBnb and Uber and others that are part of the sharing economy. Companies are collecting data about you, including the reviews companies are writing about you, which will be more powerful than your credit score, ultimately. It will determine if you are able to do business in the reputation economy," Sparks said.
The reputation economy is basically the notion that as we increasingly live more of our lives online, our credibility will become more dependent on our digital footprint. While this includes what is being said about people on social networks, e-commerce websites and news sites, it can also be applied to more recent review systems such as those that are featured in on-demand service apps.
For example, Uber not only requires the customer to rate their driver after their ride but also has the driver give a rating to the passenger based on their behavior. The car-hailing app Lyft has a similar policy, and if a customer has a low rating, the driver may choose not to accept the request for a ride.
While companies such as Ebay and Amazon have had systems in place for helping to establish trust between buyers and sellers for a while, more companies are trying new ways to rate people using their online data.
The start-up TrustCloud, for example, uses a person's social accounts and other data to establish their level of trustworthiness on peer-to-peer networks. And Klout uses social media analytics to measure and rank a person's online influence.
Excerpt of article by Cadie Thompson, posted on cnbc.com
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