Trust. It’s what you do.
Our online world offers many benefits, Trust is not one of them.
When we consider what the online world offers — limitless communications and connections across borders and boundaries — the internet is the most compelling tool humanity has yet created.
We get more communication, more connections, and more information, but we get less of something too.
We get less Trust
Consider the Social Services You Use Most
Online communities offer social profiles with ways to flag abuse, as well as features such as adding comments, leaving reviews, and ratings. These features showcase merit and provide recognition for achievements.
These features are all created to the same end.
Social Features Exist to Build Trust
When you think about it, what consumers are really after, aside from the raw functions delivered by the internet and easy commerce? It is trust; the real brand, the real product.
If you are a product manager of a service that connects people, everything you do and every feature you create is there to build trust. Your job is to make up for the inherent deficit of trust online.
The Rise of the Social Profile
Accountability is the noble purpose of the humble social profile, which has always been there to build trust.
The very first dating sites and social networking services were carefully crafted to be “profile-oriented”. Profiles fostered greater accountability and offered a way to showcase our digital lives. Profiles were a much richer improvement over avatars and comment boards, which were often filled with abuse.
A tool for the legitimate…right? A true profile of our own selves.
Unless it isn’t ourselves at all.
The Rise of the Fake Profile
Today, if you rely on connecting with others online, the service is considered “social”. Dating services, marketplaces, apps to find a babysitter or dog walker — these are all examples of social services based on trust.
Today, an entire generation has grown up with fake, fraudulent, masquerading, and scamming activities all relating to what is rampant: online identity theft.
https://www.tsf.foundation/blog/friendster-battles-fakesters-2003
When you consider that there is an army of legitimate members who are losing this battle to a fraction of fraudsters, you realize that the tables must be turned.
What if we give genuine members the tools to showcase legitimacy, to “self identify” and back their own claim? What if we do this in ways that leave the fraudster no means to do their business? A respectful separation of the identity portion of that account, ensuring the owner has control.
Fraudsters play a game of numbers; they must maintain many accounts, each with carefully crafted identities, and carry on conversations with hundreds of potential victims. They need to return quickly when their fake profiles are discovered, flagged, or turned off in order to remain profitable.
A “badge-of-trust” offering no means to maintain multiple accounts, yet is easy for genuine members to maintain is the answer. This simple wiring turns the tables on fraud and favors legitimacy. Members make it work; this value is built in. The service being used makes confirmed identity valuable and people use it because it is useful to do so.
Communities thrive and grow when members control how they share and view one another’s online identities. Visit truanon.com and strengthen your business.
