The New Social-Media Rule: Trust No One

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Facebook is supposed to be advertising heaven because consumers can recommend certain brands to their friends, who supposedly trust their judgment. Well, that might not necessarily be what’s going on. AdAge reports: “According to Edelman's latest Trust Barometer, the number of people who view their friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company dropped by almost half, from 45% to 25%, since 2008.”

Why the steep loss of confidence? The article chalks up some of the skepticism to the fact that recession has made people more jaded all around. But it also points to the meteoric boom in social networking as a contributing factor. The article says:

Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have allowed people to maintain larger circles of casual associates, which may be diluting the credibility of peer-to-peer networks. In short, the more acquaintances a person has, the harder it can be to trust him or her. Mr. Edelman believes the Facebook component has ‘absolutely’ played a role in diluting trust levels.