Digital Design Blog

Got ID?

The way we live our lives online has evolved, so has the way
we manage our identities. Welcome to Identity 2.0.

Knock, knock. Who’s there?
In the online world, the answer to that question gets tricky. With an over-abundance of user names and passwords, we often have trouble remembering who we are as we journey from Web site to Web site�never mind creating an identity on which to build our reputation, credibility and relationships with others.

“Now you have to be a different identity every place you go,” says co-producer and facilitator of the Internet Identity Workshop, Kaliya Hamlin. “How can we be whole, integrated people?” It’s a very valid question in today’s ever-expanding Internet.

Whether we focus on contributing or consuming content, or developing relationships, our identity allows us to define who we are and how we are known within a community. For those of us who contribute content, research has shown that social capital is a key motivator, and being able to build a reputation and personal credibility is vital to that experience. For those consuming content and information, trust is a key component when making decisions about the credibility of information. Either way you cut it, identity is vital to reputation, trust and an overall good
site experience.

eBay is a great example of a site built on trust through user identity and reputation. Its system enables both sellers and buyers to build a reputation within the community; therefore, offering smarter decision-making options. If a seller has a poor rating, then a buyer may choose to purchase an item from someone else. This reputation system helped eBay build trust within the community; thus, develop a lively, robust and active marketplace.

The problem is, when we have to continually recreate ourselves online, building a reputation or knowing who to trust is a challenge. A user may have a strong reputation on eBay, but, when he joins another site, he starts from scratch. Let�s look at a hypothetical example:

Joe is an active member of Facebook, where he has 273 friends, and has never had a negative interaction with anyone on the site. He also sells restored mountain bikes on eBay and has a great reputation there. He’s been a member of e-Pinions for years as well and posts reviews about once every other month. Today, he decides to join a new online community�but he has to start developing his identity and building his reputation from scratch. The only chance another user might recognize him is if he uses his same username, but, even then, they will have to find each other.

What is it worth for him to join another site�your site�when he has to start again?

The Quest for One Identity
Online identity has always been a concern, but over the past few years, as communities proliferate online, this concern has compounded. A number of solutions are currently gaining ground. Let�s take a look at a few of them:

� OpenID has been gaining traction recently. It is used by a number of sites, including Facebook, Digg, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, and AOL. Reebok also recently implemented OpenID in its GoRunEasy.com community site. OpenID is an open-source application that provides users with a uniform resource identifier (URI) in the same way that Web sites have a URL. It allows for “authentification” so that it is secure, and it also allows users to choose which elements of their identity to share.

� ClaimID is a sister to OpenID. It allows users to create a profile with all of the sites on which they have identities. It also allows them to claim those pages as their own.

� iNames are similar to OpenID�s URI. iNames may be a better choice for regular, less technical people according to Hamlin. To date, more than 10,000 people use iNames. The system works by providing users with a number that is unique and persistent to that user. iNames and OpenIDs work together so you can type your iName into an OpenID log-in.

� Windows CardSpace allows users to securely provide a digital identity to a site via a piece of client software that uses a set of “cards,” with identity data for the user to choose from.

� Amazon�s Real Name Attribution allows users to claim their real name using a credit card in the spirit of credibility andreputation building.

� hCards are popular among the more tech-savvy crowd. They are considered a “microformat” and use a one-to-one representation of vCards. Users must program an hCard, and they are accessible by anyone, which means they are not for everyone.

What To Do?
There are many reasons for enabling an identity in your online community that works across multiple properties.

� First, it lowers barriers to participation by enabling users to sign in using an existing username and password. This means a potentially faster ramp-up for your community.

� Second, it allows users to leverage their reputation without having to rebuild it on your site. This not only makes your community more appealing to users who have spent a great deal of time
building their reputation, it also allows you to more easily build a reputable community.

� Finally, it allows you to provide a better user experience overall. When registration barriers are removed and users feel like they can take their identity with them to your community, the experience is more welcoming and satisfying.

by Laura Porto Stockwell