Brands

We all trust brands right? You know what you're getting when you buy a Coke Zero or Big Mac.

But when it comes to knowledge, the most recent vector for value extraction (the internet) is though, having some difficulty in the brand recognition phase.

We don't yet trust it. I don't trust FB or Twitter, Google News is a fascinating feed of google's idea of my preferences, but I do trust Wikipaedia.

And that's for good reason. Determining trust has become a spectator sport. We're now in a space where we're predicting an algorithm.

Its a bit like economics. We establish a model, we pin variables and push go.

Which is all well and good. Its the variables that determine difference between outcomes. And also the logic of the algorithm.

Determining trust is most often based on metrics - the simple equation that truth = frequency x incidence.

But we can't really determine truth that way. That's just lazy. Its the absence of other inputs that makes us lazy.

I find the best truth from reference to those I know who I have respect for. And I keep looking for more.