We've stopped trusting institutions and started trusting strangers | Rachel Botsman

Technology is reshaping how people establish trust by connecting individuals through platforms like Airbnb, Bitcoin, and Tinder. These examples show that new digital channels enable trusting relationships with strangers and facilitate access to innovative ideas. At the same time, traditional trust in institutions like banks, governments, and churches is waning. The shift highlights an evolving landscape where digital mechanisms increasingly underpin social and economic interactions.

BlaBlaCar innovates long-distance travel by matching drivers and passengers through detailed social profiles and preferences, allowing users to choose travel companions based on subtle cues like conversation style. The service challenges the deep-seated caution of riding with strangers, demonstrating that technology and community reviews can foster trust at scale. By enabling millions of people to take a leap into the unknown every month, it reshapes the way we embrace risk and connect with new experiences.

Trust compels one to leap from the security of the known into the realm of uncertainty. It acts as the unseen force that allows us to rely on everyday promises, from children's assurances to a pilot's commitment to safety. Despite its elusive nature, trust remains essential for functioning in both simple tasks and critical decisions.

Trust is defined as a confident relationship to the unknown that empowers individuals to navigate uncertainty and forge genuine connections. Rather than a simple risk assessment, trust reveals its true nature in everyday leaps of faith, such as entering credit card details on an unfamiliar website. As technology transforms the fabric of social interaction, trust stands as the vital force linking people despite the unknown.

Digital trust unfolds as a three-step progression where belief in an idea is first established, such as trusting that ride-sharing is safe and worthwhile. Confidence in a platform follows, exemplified by BlaBlaCar’s commitment to assist when problems arise, before trust is refined through subtle personal cues. This gradual process transforms initial uncertainty into routine acceptance, fostering innovation and changing behavior in how trust is built online.

Trust has historically transformed through three distinct phases, beginning with tight-knit communities where personal reputation ensured accountability. In small villages, every action impacted future social exchanges, as borrowing and repaying were matters of public record. With the rapid urbanization in the mid-1800s, personal bonds gave way to institutional trust, as large corporations and modern banking systems redefined societal relationships and paved the way for a distributed era of trust.

Traditional trust in opaque institutions eroded as repeated scandals and unethical leadership failed to restore accountability. Digital platforms now foster mutual ratings and transparent interactions, making personal accountability central to behavior. A shift emerges, moving away from top‐down, commission-based systems toward decentralized, distributed trust underpinned by innovations like blockchain. This transformation compels a reimagining of trust across professional and personal relationships in the digital age.

Imagine a digital ledger that records assets like property titles, stock trades, and creative rights in time-stamped, publicly accessible blocks. Asset transfers are recorded without intermediaries, eliminating the need for lawyers, trusted third parties, or government facilitators. The system relies on trusting the platform itself while removing the traditional requirement to trust external parties. This innovation promises to reshape global transactions, mirroring the transformative impact of the internet on information accessibility.

Uber’s rise illustrates how digital platforms have reshaped trust, turning skeptical public reaction into rapid adoption. Taxi protest and media comments inadvertently legitimized Uber, leading to an exponential surge in user confidence worldwide. Profiles with names, photos, and ratings on platforms like Uber and Didi create mutual safety, encouraging even consumers to share rides, homes, or dates with strangers. This shift in trust is a transformative change that challenges traditional systems and opens opportunities for more transparent and accountable interactions.