• by Tameka Kee , September 10, 2007

TrustPlus Inc. has launched a preview of its online reputation community at www.TrustPlus.com, a network aimed at helping users build and manage their "online credibility" and assess the reputations of others they encounter on the Web.

Like most social networks, users create a profile and add friends, building degrees of separation and a "TrustCircle" of acquaintances and work connections. But beyond using who the person knows, Waltham, Mass.-based TrustPlus also factors in recommendations, info from blog comments and other factors, to come up with a "Reputation Score" tailored to the context of any possible future interactions.

For example, a casual acquaintance's Reputation Score may be higher than a coworker's for auto buying information--since the acquaintance is a frequent contributor to discussions at used car forums and bought two used cars online in the past year, while the coworker has only researched vehicles on the Web.

The network certainly seems tailored to online buyers and sellers--a one-stop shop for gauging online credibility. But the company adds that community members can also use the service to assess potential dates and determine which bloggers and reviewers are reliable sources of info.

"TrustPlus is shining a light on the Web's dark landscape to illuminate the people we encounter online," says founder and CEO Shawn Broderick. "We're replacing anonymity with accountability through community, building collective trust to make the Web a safe place to work and play."

The company has also bundled a browser add-on into the service called the TrustPlus Viewer, which can pull up info on any member's reputation from multiple Web sites including craigslist, LinkedIn, eBay, Facebook, MySpace and Amazon. iMoondo, a free video classifieds service, has integrated TrustPlus into its site as part of the beta, allowing visitors to see sellers' reputations before they do business with them. TrustPlus is slated to formally launch the network later this year.