The Sharing Economy Trust Throwdown

A wave of new platforms that empower people to share offline is breaking the monopoly big organizations have on how we consume. Peer marketplaces like Airbnb, RelayRides, and TaskRabbit are spearheading the new sharing economy.

But there’s a big problem: In an economy driven by transactions between strangers, who do we trust? This is a key question when we’re sharing cars, houses, and our livelihoods with strangers.

Many startups are addressing this problem including TrustCloud, Legit, and Scaffold. While approaches differ, they’re all developing the equivalent of a credit score for the sharing economy that’s portable across multiple platforms.

With new technologies come questions. Can you use social media to measure trust? Will a single trust score work across multiple platforms? Aren’t the reputation systems found within platforms enough? Is there a business model here?

Our panel pits advocates against skeptics in a debate addressing these questions.

Additional Supporting Materials

http://www.scribd.com/doc/38786066/The-New-Sharing-Economy#fullscreen

Questions Answered

Can you use social media to measure trust? If so, what is the best approach?
Will a single trust score work across multiple platforms?
Are portable trust scores needed? If so, what's the value of them and the business model?
Should peer marketplaces stay closed or should they open?
Aren't the reputations systems within each platform enough? Why do you need a third party system?