Building a trust system into a social app
jhp: I worked on one of the largest simulated markets on the web and offer the following advice:- Use basic human motivation to encourage real participation. Points scored and virtual awards work well, but only if you can control system-gaming and inflation.- Make sure that each account is connected to a confirmed email address or social network account.- Spend time looking for people who are creating multiple accounts for the purpose of gaming your system (same IPS, repetitive names / passwords). Disable what appear to be the spoof accounts and email the core account about why you did it.- Have a clearly defined policy for what is acceptable behavior and penalize as much bad behavior as is necessary. Make sure to show the community that there is enforcement.- Maintain contact with helpful members of the community who can key you in on problematic individuals or exploitable flaws in the scoring system.