This is part one of an ongoing series looking at trust, ethics, openness and more as emerging media becomes more widespread in use for individuals and businesses.

Trust is a hot topic at the minute.  David Spinks asks whether social media has enforced corporate trust and honesty;  Chris Brogan and  Julien Smith release their Trust Agents book this fall; and big corporations are trying to rebuild trust in their brand after failing spectacularly in public.

Add in the fact that the FTC is currently looking at how it can monitor sponsored reviews and advertising online, and it’s clear that trust and trusting have never been more important.

But what is trust, exactly? Is it the same for everyone, or can it be different?

Can  trust in a celebrity, for example, be as strong as trust in a friend or family member? It might seem a strange concept, but if that celebrity has a lot of influence over you then isn’t that just as strong as advice from a close friend? And how about a business? Does the sales or marketing message from a business hold more sway than word-of-mouth from a friend or connection if the business hasn’t been wrong so far?

I asked the question,  “What does ‘The Economy of Trust’ mean to you?” on Twitter, to crowd-source views and ideas for this post (and the subsequent posts in the series). Some of the replies included:

Kat’s response was interesting, as I’ve seen companies fail to live up to the hype before yet still enjoy huge success with their product or service.

Sony, for example, used CGI-rendered demos for their soon-to-be-released  Playstation 2 console back in 1999 yet claimed they were in-game graphics. When the actual games came out, they couldn’t possibly live up to the hype, yet the console would go on to become one of the most successful ever.

So can trust be overcome with huge marketing and advertising budgets and sheer brute force of numbers?

It’s often said that the capital of trust is crucial for any business success. It’s also part of what makes us who we are, and how we view others (and are viewed ourselves). But can trust be manipulated to the point that it’s difficult to differentiate between a sales pitch and a genuine recommendation?

As paid blogging and sponsored tweets make more headway and come under both praise and criticism, it’s clear that trust will define who is successful and who isn’t. Or will it? Does trust disappear when monetary value comes into play?

This is just an introduction to an ongoing conversation that will be taking place here over the coming weeks and months. There’s a lot more to trust than simple belief and I’ll be looking at what that is, with your help.

How does your trust come about? If it’s broken, is that forever or do you offer second chances? Can companies be trusted implicitly, or is it it the means to an end for selling a product?

I trust your views – feel free to share them and let’s open up the conversation.

Comments

Filed under: Uncategorized

About The Author: Danny Brown is the owner of Press Release PR, a boutique agency specializing in search engine optimized press releases and social media PR. He offers consultancy advice on social media and PR to both individuals and corporations He has guest authored at leading web and search marketing site Web Analytics World and is a blog partner of the WebProNews and iEntry business networks. He is also a regular contributor to the Dad-o-Matic project.