The Reputation Economy Book Summary - The Reputation Economy Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

The Reputation Economy summary

Michael Fertik and David C. Thompson

How To Optimize Your Digital Footprint in a World Where Your Reputation Is Your Most Valuable Asset

3.6 (14 ratings)
16 mins

Brief summary

The Reputation Economy by Michael Fertik and David C. Thompson explores how online reputation affects individuals and businesses. The book provides insights into the power of reputation and practical advice on how to build and manage it in the digital age.

Table of Contents

    The Reputation Economy
    Summary of 7 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 7

    Everything you do online is recorded, stored and analyzed to determine your reputation score.

    Before the advent of the internet, people had a fair amount of control over how they presented themselves to the world. Today, however, such tight control is a thing of the past.

    This change is partially due to the dramatic expansion of our data storage capacities. Previously, only major institutions, such as the CIA, the NSA and IBM, had the resources to store massive amounts of data. Then came the internet, and now anyone can store huge amounts of data for close to zilch.

    For individuals, that means that their digital footprint, the trail of data they leave behind after surfing the internet (photos uploaded to Facebook, credit card transactions and ATM withdrawals), will be recorded and permanently stored by a motley of companies.

    Furthermore, emerging technologies are making it easier and cheaper to analyze, quantify and draw conclusions from this data. And companies increasingly rely on data-analysis tools to discern patterns in their customers’ behavior.

    Amazon, for instance, uses a system called Hadoop to find, among millions upon millions of purchases, patterns that allow them to make customized product recommendations. And LinkedIn uses a similar system to recommend “People You May Know.”

    These systems organize the cascades of data via numerical scoring. And at this point, pretty much everything is being processed and scored.

    So whatever you do online – each click of your mouse – is represented as a number. And many companies are plugging these numbers into an algorithm that computes a reputation score for individual people.

    Pretty soon, reputation scores will be ubiquitous. In other words, whatever you want to do in the future, whether it’s getting a job or buying a house, you’ll first have to reckon with your reputation score – the sum of all your online habits.

    Want to see all full key ideas from The Reputation Economy?

    Key ideas in The Reputation Economy

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is The Reputation Economy about?

    The Reputation Economy (2015) explains how to optimize your digital footprint and establish a first-rate online reputation. The authors identify emerging trends and describe how you can improve your prospect of both professional and financial success.

    Who should read The Reputation Economy?

    • Anyone interested in protecting their online reputation
    • Every internet user
    • Anyone who wants to be up to date on the latest trends in hiring

    About the Author

    Michael Fertik is the founder and CEO of Reputation.com, a pioneering firm dedicated to online reputation management. He also co-authored the bestselling book Wild West 2.0.

    David C. Thompson is a lawyer and business executive. Previously, he was the general counsel to and chief privacy officer of Reputation.com.

    Categories with The Reputation Economy

    Book summaries like The Reputation Economy

    People ❤️ Blinkist 
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked these summaries

    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    29 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    10+ years
    Experience igniting personal growth
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial