[David Strom's Web Informant] 13 April 2010: How online relationships create trust

[David Strom]

Web Informant, 13 April 2010: How online relationships create trust

I was talking to Paul and Dana Gillin about their new book, called the
Joy of Geocaching. I would urge you to buy this book, even if you
aren't interested in the sport. You'll see why in a moment.

Today's column isn't about finding small objects hidden in plain sight
across the landscape. (It is actually more interesting than I make it
sound.) It is about how online relationships can fuel and shape how we
interact with our colleagues in the real world. You know, that
environment that exists outside our desktops?

Our newspapers and Web sites are filled with stories about how the
nature of friendship has become devalued as we go about connecting on
MyLinkFaceSpace et al. But what few have covered is how the online
world creates new kinds of communities, and builds trusted
relationships that carry on in the real world of face-to-face
interaction. And that is where the Gillins' book comes into play. In
it, they tell stories of geocachers and how they have come to enjoy
finding and hiding these objects.

There is one story of a woman who travelled to Toronto on a business
trip with several colleagues. She left them at the airport, and was
picked up by a stranger – with the only thing in common being that
both were cachers. How many of us would climb into a car in another
country with nothing more than exchanging a few emails? That involves
a certain level of trust and comfort that just doesn't happen in the
real world.

Other examples are people that use the Meetup.com site to find people
of similar circumstances. And of course there are the online dating
sites, too. Crowdsourcing is another. I am sure you could think of
other examples.

This use of online connections to prime the pump for a face-to-face
meeting happens more and more frequently because we are doing more
than just sending emails, or friend requests, or linking to others via
online sites. We are sharing a common bond, a series of interests. We
are building an authoritative source of content, context and identity.
And along the way, we start shaping these micro-communities one person
at a time.

Yes, there are people who pride themselves on having thousands of
"friends" or who can connect with celebs and CEOs alike. But that
isn't what today's Internets are all about.

Yes, it takes a village. But increasingly, our villages are formed
online and with hyper-specific interests – not just because we share a
common street block or elementary school classroom of our children.
This is nothing new. The early bulletin board systems were great at
this. But what is new is the potency of these relationships, and how
quickly they can come to fruition.

Sure, I belong to lots of different communities, some based here in
St. Louis, some that include people from all over the world. And my
biggest community is you, the Web Informant reader. Or I hope so. Do
share some of your own online/offline relationship stories with my
readers on strominator.com if you feel so inclined.

Self (and other) promos dep't

If you want to buy Paul and Dana's book, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1884956998/davidstromswebin/

I will be on the Tim Taylor Digital Nation radio show this Saturday at
1pm Central, talking about Windows 7 migration tools and methods. This
uses some of the research for articles and screencast videos that I
have done for the Dell-sponsored site ITexpertVoice.com. If you are
interested in having me come speak at your next group meeting about
this topic, email me.
http://www.digitalnationradio.com

Finally, if you are going to be in St. Louis next Tuesday, do stop by
and say hello at the Gateway to Innovation Conference at the Chase
Park Plaza. While I won't be speaking, I do think the conference
organizers have put together a great program.
http://www.g2iconference.com/

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