Trust Issues

Discussions of trust have been a pet project on this blog lately. I've touched on topics ranging from the Induce Act to big business to our bumbling president; every subject inspired by sources far more credible than this one. That tradition continues.

Today Dan Gillmor covers how trust can give Google a competitive advantage. It's an idea that ties in nicely with Seth Godin's idea of relationship marketing and Hugh's claim that "media is an interface."

Those who operate within traditional power centers seem to recognize that the Internet represents a shift in the balance of that power and are working to change the architecture of the Net to preserve the status quo; witness the rise of DRM, the extension of copyright, the DMCA and the pending Induce Act just to name a few. But as people begin to recognize what the Net is capable of they will begin to understand the power they have. Imagine a political or cultural flash mob operating on a global scale.

Who's going to be able to control that? No one. But the organizations that the mobs trust will benefit handsomely.

My advice: let go!