Trust and Privacy

Dick Cavett and David Brooks take on the weakening nature of trust in the NYT's latest Opinionator column, "In What Can We Trust?"

Cavett cites Peppers & Rogers, always a good source, especially on all things digital.  And Brooks invokes the importance of reciprocity:

"I’d say that trust is about reciprocity. About establishing a pattern of communication and then cooperative volleys that get coated by emotional and moral commitment."

Which leads me to an article from the March issue of Reason - "Facebook Justice."  Noepe readers may recall I abandoned Facebook last year after concluding the cons outweighed the pros, especially where trust and privacy are concerned.   To wit:

"According to the La Crosse Tribune, Adam Bauer and seven other under-21 students at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse were busted after a police officer posing as an attractive student befriended them on Facebook, then documented photos they had posted on their profiles that depicted them consuming alcohol.

"Meanwhile, Facebook proved to be a blessing for 19-year-old Rodney Bradford of New York City. Bradford spent two weeks in jail on a mugging charge in October. He was released after his attorneys were able to trace the IP address of a status update posted to his Facebook account at the time of the robbery. The message that won Bradford his freedom, “ON THE PHONE WITH THIS FAT CHICK......WHERER MY IHOP,” was posted in Harlem, 12 miles from the scene of the mugging."

Busted by fake friends and online pictures.  Exonerated by IP address.  It's a mad online world.