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Membership
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Reputation
Reputation is an externalized self. In the simplest case, it is merely the memories of experiences with that person within a social group. Reputation is of social value because it allows prediction of and, to a certain extent, control of individuals' behavior. In modern societies, the concept of a "legal person" has been developed. This concept can associate certain objects, accomplishments, obligations, and rights with a given physical person. Computerization has led to a vast expansion in the amount of personal data that can be acquired, stored, and mobilized in decision making. One of the earliest applications was the "credit rating," permitting the transfer of goods and services without immediate payment, thus formalizing a form of trust. Detailed information about people is now collected routinely, permitting one to know what products they use, how they spend their time, whether they have health problems, and so on. In the earliest social groups, gossip allowed persons to gain knowledge about others without directly interacting with them. This form of communication also led to selective transmission of information, typically emphasizing deviations from acceptable behavior. It also permitted intentional distortion of information, which might gain the communicator advantages. Selective transmission of information can result in two types of social control. First, persons might restrict their own behavior in order to avoid being labeled as a deviant or suffering other consequences. This strategy can lead to feelings of stress and constriction, that is, lack of freedom, and reduced spontaneity and opportunities for creative expression. Second, distorted information about a person can lead to reduced opportunities for them, since others may accept their reputation as a true reflection of the self. A sense of failure or frustration can result from this second type of control. Reduced self-esteem and increased fear can result from such control mechanisms. In the past, a person could escape from a negative reputation by moving to another social group, either temporarily or permanently. Typically, a person will have a different reputation in the home, at work, and in various other social groups. These multiple reputations provided the individual with differing opportunities for creative expression, and multiple sources of identity and self-esteem. The growing importance of reputation, the much tighter association of reputation with the physical person, and the systematic collection of personal data permit much higher levels of social control. Today, many persons develop new "personae" or identities for new creative activities, as did famous authors in the past. New information technologies, using secure pseudonym mechanisms, can make development of even the most deviant of reputations a safe activity. This type of security is an unfortunate necessity in an environment where consumers are routinely profiled using the most advanced psychological techniques and targeted for exploitation through the application of automated direct marketing, and so on. Should some agency or powerful individual take a special interest in a given person, it is possible to destroy that person's livelihood through tampering with computerized data, planting rumors, and so on.
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