From: Deranged Mutant <rrothenb@ic.sunysb.edu>
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 95 15:50:01 PDT
To: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Subject: Re: pseudonyms & list health
In-Reply-To: <ac7072bf0602100490af@[205.199.118.202]>
Message-ID: <199509042248.SAA08649@csws5.ic.sunysb.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Tim wrote:

> At 6:13 AM 9/4/95, Futplex wrote:
> >Deranged Mutant writes:
> >> My worry is about abuse.  One would prefer to save endorsements and find
> >> a way to remove thumbs-downs... also how to prevent one from overdoing a
> >> thumbs-up or -down certification for a person (either to inflate or de-
> >> flate a reputation).
> >
> >A few nuisance lawsuits from people who were given thumbs-downs might do the
> >trick, as with employment recommendations in the U.S. :[
> 
> A good point that deserves further comment. Employers have taken to _saying
> nothing_ about past employees, for fear of lawsuits by disgruntled job
> seekers. So much for free speech, courtesy of the American legal system.

As a somehow related note, my experience with some past jobs is that in
some circumstances the employee turnover rate is high enough that a manager
will give a neutral or good rating simply because they have no experience
with a previous employee who clearly did not deserve a good rating.

Something similar could happen with mailing lists... hardly anyone can
remember when a 'newbie' posted to a list a few years ago, irregardless
of whether a person is still worth a certain rating after a time.

Then again, with a lot of material being archived, it might be easier in
some circumstances to review a person's contributions to a list rather
than rely on a rating... or maybe send a trusted rater to research an
author on the 'net for you rather than maintain a huge database of
ratings that will need some form of interpretation.

Then again, (as Tim and others noted) there's alws killfiles and manual
glossing over of threads, etc.

> But as we can't changed the litigious nature of American society (and maybe
> European society--I don't know), the emphasis ought to be on digital
> systems and reputations by pseudonyms.

Litigating in a society of pseudonyms may have it's own problems anyway...
(imagining suing a trusted friend of yours who prefers to give you much
needed crticisms through a pseudonym so as to protect the friendship...
on example off the top of my head)... How can a 'nym be held legally
accountable as a non-'nym?

-Rob