Respect my authoritah!

Developing my Forum I discovered the power of the on-line reputation mechanisms. It's one of the most commonly used features in web-forums, but it's vital for its success. So, according to how many posts one makes, he is given an appropriate title. I used a Hollywood-style ranking system where one begins as an "extra" in a movie and as he posts he becomes: "body-double, supporting actor, leading actor, super-star" and so on. As you can imagine the Administrator of the forum is called "Director" and the Moderator "Asistant-Director". Not very original, I know, but it works fine.

The on-line reputation systems are very important in web-sites like e-bay where you can find out how the other users have evaluated a sellers services... Also in communities like Slashdot, this system is very sophisticated and involves many parameters, not only the naumber of posts (each member can rate another one and be rated. Your rating depends to the rating of the one who rates you... !). All this brings to mind the real sense of Democracy, without imposed authorities. The power is really in the people.
Chryssanthos Dellarokas, a Greek professor in MIT, has made a study on these systems called "Word of mouse"