Trust and Networks
Gideon Rosenblatt,
Alchemy of Change,
Apr 20, 2011
I really have mixed feelings about arguments linking the role of trust with success in networks. I mean, I get what the authors mean when they say things like "Trust builds living networks that are highly resilient, flexible and efficient." My project is, while I can get a handle on what is meant by 'resilient', 'flexible' and 'efficient', I don't know what is meant by trust. It's something that can be high or low, it's something that can create tolerance or forgiveness, and all the rest of it. But when you push the concept, it begins to break down into thinks like autonomy, diversity, openness or interactivity, that sort of thing. When you push it, 'trust' itself vanishes and more rather more pragmatic and concrete values manifest. So we see in this article the author talk about the idea that network membership is voluntary, that members are autonomous, that they interact as peers, that there is no external controlling force. So why don't wee address trust in these terms? I think it's because the larger entities online don't want there to be a balance of power, and so the word 'trust' is a nice euphemism can can be used; it sounds good, and it puts a human face on some very unhuman entities. Just my thoughts, for what they're worth.
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