A new report from Pew Research Center and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center is out, and it has some answers. They ran a survey past 1,233 technology experts in order to figure out the best guesses as to the next ten years of online trust, and the predictions were mixed. The short answer is that about 48 percent think trust will be strengthened, 28 percent think it will remain the same, and 24 percent think trust will be diminished over the next decade. But here’s how they arrived at those conclusions.
The Case for More Trust
Some experts argue that the shift towards a lack of trust is the result of systems that can be repaired. Once the cracks are patched up, users will regain their trust in online sources. About half of the Pew study’s respondents believed this would result in a boost in online trust over the next decade.
The Case for a “New Normal”
Some, however, think that this lack of trust in online security will hold steady — not getting worse, but not getting better, either. One anonymous research professor summed up the viewpoint succinctly: “Trust is dead now. Thus, it will stay the same: Dead.”
The Case for Less Trust
Going even more cynical — yes, that’s possible — some argued that we are just beginning the long, dark slide into untrustworthiness. The worst part? “A number of the most highly respected experts” and a quarter of the total respondents hold this view. At least we know who to blame for the internet’s possible future online trust hellscape: Corporate models and opportunistic exploitation.
