Overview
On Ethos, your invitations are a reflection of your judgment. The credibility system tracks how the people you invite behave on the platform, and their conduct can positively or negatively impact your own credibility score.
The Connection Between Inviter and Invitee
When you invite someone to Ethos, a link is created between your profiles. The system considers:
How the invitee behaves: Do they receive positive reviews? Do they vouch for credible users? Or do they get slashed and receive negative reviews?
The bonding period: During the initial bonding period after an invitation, the invitee's behavior has a heightened effect on your score.
Long-term impact: Even after the bonding period, having invited users with poor reputations can drag on your credibility.
How This Affects Your Score
Good invitees: If the people you invite build strong credibility — earning positive reviews, contributing to the community, and maintaining healthy scores. This reflects well on your judgment and can boost your own score.
Bad invitees: If someone you invited turns out to be a scammer, sybil, or bad actor, the negative reputation they accumulate will partially reflect on you as their inviter.
EIP-10: Invitation Bond Calculation
This EIP refined how the invitation bond is calculated. The specific formula balances several factors to ensure the system is fair. New inviters aren't overly penalized for one bad invite, but serial inviters of bad actors face meaningful consequences. See the EIP-10 article for technical details.
Tips
Only invite people you genuinely trust.
Consider the invitation a personal endorsement as the system treats it as one.
Monitor the activity of people you've invited. If they go off the rails, you'll want to be aware of the potential impact on your own score.