RepVine allows individuals and companies to collect and display references. In this section we explain why RepVine focuses on references, and why you should too.

We all use and need references, even if we don't think we do. As important, we also act as a reference for others. At RepVine, we want people to understand the instrumental role references play in their life and to take the reference process from passive to active.

The web is a great equalizer, allowing people and companies of all sizes to coexist on equal footing. Ultimately, the web is about information, and now more than ever the web acts as where people turn to look for information, not just about companies but about people. Sites like Google make it incredibly easy to find information of all types, but it's a double edged sword. Once information is out on the web, it almost never goes away.

What you post on a MySpace profile, what you upload onto video sites, and the comments you make on others profiles, all of that information will be unearthed and used when people want to evaluate you. The engines and community sites do not have to work against you. They can work for you, and that is what RepVine offers. RepVine enables you to aggregated meaningful information about yourself and to view the same information about others, without others, i.e. recruiters, making incorrect inferences.

RepVine lets you take control of your own online destiny by providing you a platform to manage your references, something that employers and customers already use when evaluating those with whom they want to work. RepVine allows you to speak a common language with those that want to know more about you when making decisions that could affect your life.

To this end, RepVine is not a social network or a popularity contest. It does still include and revolve around the notion of a network though. Those who know us, our friends, family, customers, contacts, make up our network, one's community.

Collecting references from those in your community is a key part to RepVine, but it is just one piece of it. You must not only collect references but provide references for those you know and whose lives you want to advance. You decide who makes up your community, and it is your network that helps others to understand you.

Want to know more? Read "How do I RepVine" and "Who should RepVine."