Jan. 01 2012

Frictionless sharing isn’t better sharing; it’s the absence of sharing.

The end of social - O’Reilly Radar (via deplorableword)

mike loukides goes on, quoting…wait for it…microsoft:

The other day, I read a perceptive article, “In Defense of Friction,” arguing that “automated trust systems undermine trust by incentivizing cooperation because of the fear of punishment rather than actual trust.” That’s a profound point. If we rely on computational systems for a trust framework, we actually lose our instincts and capacity for personal trust; even more, we cease to care about it. And there’s a big difference between trusting someone and relying on a system that says they’re trustworthy.

it’s a new year so i’m cool with saying that microsoft “gets it” on this one.

Jan. 16 2010

The Reviewing Stand

The oddness of some of the voices in the reviews only makes them more useful. When you consult reviews on a site like Amazon, you generally see what you want to see, and autobiographical information can give a handy pretext for disqualifying an argument you’re disinclined to hear. (“That reviewer’s way too young to know a good pre-Raphaelite frameable art card!”) When you turn to the Internet for guidance, after all, you’re doing the latter-day equivalent of blindly flipping open the Bible and looking for answers. If you want to believe in something, you can usually find a way to back up your credulousness; likewise for doubt.

Mar. 05 2009

Do you miss this?

Remember when trusting the salesperson was cool? What if that returned? What if Googling something wasn’t the only way to arm yourself with knowledge?

Maybe I’m romanticizing, but there was a day when the person selling you something was the absolute expert. I miss that.

Not that I wouldn’t do research ahead of time, or in addition, but trust needs to come back to the consumer experience.

Oct. 22 2008

Derek Powazek - Pixish Closing October 31

In community-generated media, trust is everything. When you ask for submissions, contributors go through an instant internal calculation: “Do I trust these people with my work?” When your site is brand new, you’ve got no record to rely on. And with more shady “user-generated content” schemes popping up every day, people have their defenses up (as well they should).

Our proposition was made even more complicated because we were trying to create a maketplace. When a magazine opens for submissions, you’re submitting to that magazine. But Pixish was one step removed - anyone could make an assignment. So even if you trusted Pixish, you didn’t necessarily trust the person who posted the assignment.

We should have done more to earn that trust, and help members trust each other.

important lessons.

Oct. 10 2008

pennykim:

The psychology of trust goes beyond the obvious.