By Charles H. Green, Contributing Editor
Social media are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they foster depersonalized, surface interactions that can erode trust. Yet the same breadth of interaction can leverage reputation gains. The key to managing social media for trust and reputation does not lie in trade-offs or in risk management but in applying some simple values and principles.
Social Media and Trust Erosion
We've all joked about the erosion of terms such as "friends," and the hollowness of "following" tens of thousands of tweeters. It is possible to be a huge fan of social media (I certainly am) and still raise a giant eyebrow at some of the ironies it reveals.
For one thing, there is the tendency of lowest-common denominator crass commercialism to overwhelm any new form of social media. We'll all see whether Google's decision to start Google+ without commerce gave it a head start of a different sort—or not.
At a personal level, something similar pans out. All new media seem to bring out a gold rush of number collectors. (Interestingly, FourSquare recognized this drive and made it central to its "mayor of…" concept.)
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