Trust and the Sharing Economy

Moira Gill
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

Societal trust, boiled down by the many theories surrounding it, is abstract and complicated, but critical not only in the maintenance of social and economic capital, but in the continued growth of existing and future companies, industries, and other large, interdependent groups.

Adam Smith, regarded as the father of modern capitalism, pointed this out in his famous “pin factory” example. A free-market system is dependent on a baseline level of trust.

A baseline level of trust seems reasonable. But I do find it curious how a potentially considerable portion of our GDP stems from a sharing economy system based on a tremendous amount of trust in virtual interactions with strangers.

Is it that we trust the capabilities of pre-screening technology more?

Do we expect a negative indication of trust would be flagged with some sort of backend vetting beyond a five-star rating and a feedback section? How sure are we a system like that exists?

Those unknowns fall to the wayside in order to make cost- and time-efficient decisions.

The technology and screening processes on these platforms have improved over time, requiring added identity verification of users. Yet, I still scratch my head sometimes wondering why a generation of considerable anti-Orwellian sentiment (myself included) relies on virtual peer-to-peer transactions without much huff and puff.

Perhaps it’s that the sharing economy is, at its core, relationship-centric. It might take place in a virtual environment, but it’s still about intentional, interpersonal trust. One person transacting with another person. Very limited parameters set by regulatory entities. We have a lot of power in this sort of economy; to trust our own judgment of who we do business with and who we hold accountable. Laissez-faire in a virtual world.

What does the future hold for the sharing economy?

If it’s not already in progress, a system that designates a quantified “trust barometer” per person, and which is associated with our official forms of identification, could develop. Data from all of our purchases, content in our emails, interactions on social media, ratings we get from apps like Uber, AirBnb, etc.

In a world that will always rely on transactional interdependency, perhaps these “trust barometers” would replace other official forms of identification in the ether of virtual exchange.

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