Tom, I think that’s a great question. Unfortunately I don’t know if I understand the goals of the Omidyar Network well enough to answer it fully. Let me take some steps towards an answer and add some more questions

First, the Omidyar Network is ahead of many communities because it is already using currencies in its reputation rankings. Being able to give feedback about people, ideas and postings is a great way to increase the signal to noise ratio in an online space as well as creating accountability for people’s actions. But in this one domain there still may be significant refinement available.

However, although I’m sure there are patterns to this reputation currency, much of it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Take the reputation of this Targeted Currencies group, for example (currently at 161). This must be a function of the people who join the group because there is no way to rate groups. But when I join a group, its number doesn’t go up a consistent amount and when I leave a group the number doesn’t go down. So what does the number truly reflect?

The same thing applies in other places these scores show up. Should positive feedback to my posts be reflected in my personal score in some way? I’m not claiming to understand all the underlying intentions in how the feedback system is designed, but it makes feedback scores less useful to me if I can’t understand what they mean.

One of the things we’ve been building into some of our systems is multiple (sometimes interacting or interdependent currencies). For example, in our design for a Currency Commons, we have three distinct reputation currencies. One acknowledges input of new & original ideas (Stones), another represents level of activity & participation (Tumbles) and the third rewards successful implementation of ideas into real world currencies (Gems).

Each one gives you a clearer sense of the strength of people’s contributions. If you’re looking for someone to come up with new ideas needed to solve a unique problem in your community you may be looking for people with a lot of Stones. If you’re looking for somebody who is an avid community builder who can help you build the critical mass of participation in something like an online community, you’re looking for somebody with a lot of Tumbles. If you seek support in implementation of a currency, look to Gems.

Sometimes collapsing different types of currencies into a single one doesn’t make sense (think balls, strikes & outs in baseball). Other times it works out fine (think time penalties for hurdles not cleared). [Note: Thanks to Aaron Silverstein for the analogies.]

I don’t know that I know enough about the “donation jars” or “Better World Scouts” to say yet, but I suspect they would involve their own currencies independent of the Omidyar reputation system.

What are the key needs you are trying to address or problems are you trying to solve with them?

Who do you want to attract to the community?

What kinds of participation do you want to reward?

Answers to those questions shape the kind of targeted currencies that we’d design to address those needs.