Trust in Me, Just in Me
Trusted Filters Series
The Internet is precipitating the greatest shift in what it means to be a trusted filter since the invention of the printing press, and possibly the greatest shift ever. Where once the filters were “big media” companies, now anyone with a computer and a decent Internet connection can set up shop.
Although “big tech” may be taking over from Big Media as the central controlling force for trusted filters, we are just exchanging one gate keeper for another. But the promise of the Internet is still alive and (at least in theory) anyone can now set themselves up as a global trusted filter.
And everyone wants you to trust them whether they are an expert on the topic or not, whether their opinion is informed or not, even whether they are human or not.
What are we basing that trust on, then? Have we lost trust in “expertise” and experience as the basis for trust? Is this diversity of voices a positive change, and can we even judge at this point in time whether this change will be for better or worse? And finally, do we still need gate keepers to help us find trusted filters?
Do we still need gate keepers like "Big Media" and "Big Tech" to help us find trusted filters?