Reputation and the rise of the 'rating' society

From Uber to Airbnb, ratings rule our world, but the system is far from perfect

Uber drivers are motivated to offer a better customer experience by being rated by every passenger at the end of each journey. Likewise, their passengers are incentivised to behave politely because their drivers rate them in turn. A recent version of the Uber app even allows passengers to see those ratings. And although anyone - driver or passenger - can have a bad day, it is valuable to see a person's average rating, namely to describe, with a simple and standardised measure, how good a passenger or driver he or she is. It sums up how people behaved in the past, and predicts how they are likely to behave in the future.

But perhaps the most attractive element of this system is that it puts pressure on people to gain and maintain a desirable reputation, something they may not feel compelled to do otherwise. I go to great lengths to maintain my almost perfect 4.9 Uber rating, but I don't really care what regular taxi drivers think of me - a feeling that appears to be mutual.