Identity theft in the blogosphere

Comments are an integral part of blogs and the entire "web 2.0" "movement" that is taking place. Yet I truly feel that the commenting system is flawed and leaves massive holes open for anyone wanting to abuse anyone else's reputation online.Think about it for a second. Many great bloggers tell beginners that it's imperative to talk to other bloggers by commenting on their posts. This is how I started to make a name for myself and this is how many other bloggers have done so too.But what if someone started commenting on blogs using your details. It's not hard. You simply enter the required fields with someone else's details.Name - Robert ScobleEmail - rscoble@fastcompany.comURL - http://scobleizer.com/Done.Now it looks like <a href="">Robert Scoble himself has visited this blog and left a comment. Have a look below...he actually has...You can even verify this with a bit of research. He has a valid email, posted on his blog, rscoble@fastcompany.com. The URL is correct and that is his name. So tell me, how do you prove that Scoble hasn't posted on my blog? You can't. There is actually no realy way (unless you contact that person directly) to determine the newsmakers from the fakers when it comes to comments.I think that if someone really wanted to they could destroy an unwitting person's reputation online. Especially someone in the "limelight".Watch out. It could be happening to you.I have a feeling that I will be blogging more about this particular topic in the very near future.

Previous
Previous

Facebook issues and errors

Next
Next

What would you tell the world?