Why we need to think differently about trust in tech platforms.

At the start of class this week, I asked the Oxford MBA's on my Trust in the Digital Age course to vote YES or NO to the following question:

"Should YouTube be responsible for the content posted on its platform?"

More than two-thirds of the class (there are around 80 students) stood up quickly to vote 'yes'.

The question was intentionally a poor one. As one student pointed out, 'responsible for what?' Responsible for the images and ideas shared in the videos? Accountable for the way the content is distributed and interpreted? Or even to blame for beliefs viewers form, actions they take or how they behave in response to seeing the content?

I wasn't trying to catch the students out but to get them thinking differently about trust and tech platforms. These are the types of yes/no questions or either/or statements we read in the media all the time about tech platforms and their responsibility to users. We need to be thinking differently and asking more specific questions.

So, we took a step back. I asked the students to describe or visualise how trust works on platforms. Most students in the room mapped out a relationship between a producer (creators on YouTube, drivers on Uber, hosts on Airbnb etc.) and a consumer/user. The platform was the enabler/facilitator/matchmaker (the language varied) in between.

What they were describing looks like this:

One person has a 'need', the other has a 'have', and the platform creates the efficiency and trust for a 'match'. I wasn't surprised because this is a prevalent framework we see everywhere.

The reality is far more complex...I drew this image on the board:

When we're talking about 'trust in platforms' there are lots of different relationships to consider. Let's take YouTube as an example. Trust exists between...

•   Creators and consumers

•   Creators and the platform

•   Consumers and the platform

•   Within the creator community

•   Within the user community

•   Creators and advertisers

•   Advertisers and the platform (there is actually a line missing on my sketch)

When I'm asked questions such as "So how can platforms fix their trust issues?" it is key to understand which of these relationships we're really talking about - and if it's all of them, that's okay!

I know it's complicated and messy; however, questions of responsibility and trust around platforms are complicated and messy. One of the things I hope my student's take away from my course is a different way of looking at these problems. Throughout their careers, they'll be asked questions like the poor responsibility question I asked at the start of class. Questions that trigger an instinctive yes/no response. 

For me, the real goal of learning (across all ages and stages of life) is to develop the critical thinking skills to reframe the way we see things. And the first step to changing our lens and working through an issue starts with identifying the real problem we're trying to solve.