Trust Craters In the United States - But Soars =?utf-8?Q?_in_China_=

["Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 7:24 AM
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Trust Craters In the United States - But Soars
=?utf-8?Q?_in_China_=
To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>


Trust Craters In the United States — But Soars in China
Edelman’s Trust Barometer is out, and it paints a rather dismal picture for
everyone but business. Is that an opportunity?
By John Battelle
Jan 21 2018
<
https://shift.newco.co/trust-craters-in-the-united-states-but-soars-in-china-b15a9506744f
>

Edelman’s annual “Trust Barometer” comes out today, and this year the
normally staid report feels more like a fun house mirror. The Trust
Barometer has been tracking global sentiment around four interrelated
sectors — Business, Government, NGOs, and Media — for more than a decade.
But never in its history have the numbers fluctuated as widely as they did
in 2017, and overall, the report paints a rather unflattering portrait — in
particular for the United States.

Let’s dig in. Here are the conclusions I found most startling:

        • The US and China are swapping places. Average global trust levels
stayed pretty much the same year to year, but the real story is buried in
the averages: Trust in the US went down a whopping 9 points, while trust
inside China rose 7 points — one of many indications that China is on the
rise globally, which the US is nosediving. Asked which institution they
most trusted, the Chinese chose “government.” The US? Not so much. Believe
it or not, in the US, NGOs came out in first.

        • Trust cratered in the “Informed Public” — the most educated and
wealthy survey respondents. This was driven almost entirely by an
unprecedented 23-point drop in US respondents. In short, US influencers
have thrown their hands up and lost confidence in their institutions.

        • Platform companies like Facebook and Google lost significant
trust in 2017. Led by an overwhelming concern around fake news, trust in
“Media” dropped to last place (putting Media below Government or Business),
but a closer look shows that the entire drop is driven by a lack of faith
in technology platform companies, which are included in the Media category.
Trust in “journalism” actually increased, but trust in “platforms”
decreased, as you can see below. Trust in “Experts” also increased, which
seems counterintuitive, but feels like a promising development.

        • The public is confused by the Media. This isn’t surprising, but
looking at the numbers in black and white is not easy if you’re in the
media or tech platform industries. Nearly 60 percent of respondents say
they are confused about whether or not news they see is “true.” Clearly
this is an area where a lot of work is left to do — and so far, Facebook’s
efforts seem well intentioned but…incomplete.

        • Business must lead. I chose this phrase as the theme for next
month’s Shift Forum almost a year ago, well before this survey came out, so
it was gratifying to see the Forum’s focus strongly echoed in the survey
results. CEOs of companies are expected to lead on key social issues, a
marked shift from prior years. Employers saw a 7 point increase in trust
globally last year. And 56 percent of respondents said companies that put
profit ahead of other stakeholders are “bound to fail.” In the absence of
government leadership, business seems to be picking up the slack, a reality
that cuts both ways, as the tech platforms are just beginning to understand.

As the world navigates a post-Trump reality, it’s clear citizens are
turning to business (and non profits/NGOs) as the torch bearers for
progress in society. That’s a huge opportunity for business, if its leaders
can find the courage, and the integrity, to shoulder the responsibility we
once placed in elected leaders. However, I’m personally not thrilled with
the idea that we’re giving up on democratic institutions as the instruments
of our collective will. Democracy is the worst form of government — until
you look at all the others. And corporations are not built to govern,
they’re built to provide services and make money. While I believe companies
should aim to do more than make a profit, it’s naive to think they will
replace the function of government. I for one hope the coming year will be
one in which we all find more faith in democracy. That’s one reason we have
devoted a significant portion of the Shift Forum agenda to that very
question this year.

[snip]

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