A lot of people with a job have gone on an interview and required references. Businesses that have been around for a long time undoubtedly have repeat customers. Even students need teachers support when moving into the higher echelons of education. In the end, a person with some measure of credibility is laying the reputation on the line to say something good about you. What makes this a big deal? Why is it more important than just taking an individuals word?
On one of my frequent visits to Mashable.com I read an article that evaluated LinkedIn's endorsements platform. Praise was given to the effect that endorsements gave anyone who wished to view a profile an idea of who they are looking at in a quick and concise manner. Essentially, the endorsements act like a rudimentary resume.
LinkedIn endorsements were also given some criticism because of the easy of clicking a button. As a result, a desire to modify endorsements to give it added credibility was also expressed.
While endorsements serve as only one means of supporting someone on LinkedIn, it functions on the premise that the individual is being rated or appraised on a specific quality or skill. For the person running a search, a quick run down of strengths and qualifications are on convenient display.
I would like to explore the idea of using this type of endorsement system over other forms of social media and use it to evaluate businesses. Facebook more or less has an endorsement system in place with its "likes." However, "likes" can be anonymous and far too general. Let's say a business has a Facebook page and they claim to specialize in a given service or product. Like LinkedIn endorsements, the business would list what it provides and allow fans, followers, and supporters to categorically rate depending upon specific strengths. For example, Joe's Pizza has a ton of endorsements on their pizza and sandwiches but nobody seems to be supporting the pasta. If you are looking for top notch pizza, you will go to Joe's but if you want pasta you're probably better off going to Vito's.
An endorsement system used across social media marketing platforms has the potential to give credit where credit is due while holding a healthy skepticism where recognition or praise is not all that forthcoming. Additionally, if a search option is implemented to look for a product or service by endorsement, it's fair to say that a business that stress the quality of their work will deservingly get a leg up on competition that may not hold the same standard (or entice them to step it up).
Endorsement features should vary depending upon the purpose of the social media platform. Allowances should also be made for those less established and upstarts so that an unfair advantage doesn't block them from receiving a fair shot to compete.