Impact of digital fluidity on trust

Trust has always been the glue of any functioning society, but historically, it was rooted in direct human perception: we trusted what we could see, hear, feel, and verify with our own senses, as well as the reputation and consistency of others. The digital era already strained this: when most interactions moved online, we lost our full sensory toolkit and leaned almost entirely on visual perception, the image, the video, the text, to decide what’s real. It worked because we assumed photos don’t lie, videos show what happened, and a “realistic” look signals authenticity. Generative AI breaks that last pillar. When you can’t trust your eyes alone, because anything can be synthetically created to look “real”, the burden shifts from perception to verification. So the new trust model is:          • Not what you see is what you get, but what you can prove is what you can trust.          • Not your senses, but the systems you rely on: provenance, credentials, reputation, technical proofs.          • Not a passive act, but an active practice: constant checking, validating, and re-checking. In this sense, the big shift isn’t that trust is new, it’s that its foundation is moving from our senses to our systems. We’ve never had to outsource trust to technology at this scale before. That’s what’s fundamentally different now. #TrustInTheDigitalAge #ContentAuthenticity #VerifyDontTrust #SeeingIsNotBelieving #ProvenanceMatters #visualcontent #visualtech

Click. Pause. Doubt. Abandon. In 2025, the compounding cost of hesitations will be brutal for brands. Accenture's Life Trends report defines the 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: trust in digital channels is eroding. Scams, deepfakes, undisclosed influencer ads—customers are hesitating more than ever before they hit buy now. The trust crisis stems from three compounding factors: 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐞. Sponsored links, endless ad formats, and SEO-gamed websites make finding real information exhausting. 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭. Users question everything: Is this website legitimate? Did a real person write this review? Is this product photo genuine? Was this influencer paid to recommend this brand? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬. Every digital touchpoint is now hyper-commercialized, making users feel less human and more like walking wallets. The numbers tell a sobering story: • 52% have encountered fake news • 38.8% have spotted fraudulent reviews • 52% have faced deepfake scams • 59.9% are more skeptical of online content than ever before While platforms bear the brunt of this mistrust, brands suffer the consequences. Every pause before a click. Every moment of doubt before entering credit card details. Every squint at a review, wondering if it's real. These hesitations are adding up. Accenture's Life Trend Report sums it up perfectly: "𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦." How is your brand rebuilding trust in this age of digital deception?  #brand #trust #marketing __________________________________________________________________ Consider subscribing to my weekly marketing newsletter, where I share insights on all things marketing: https://lnkd.in/gjz6JsgP

The Digital Divide Part 2/3 The second article examines the shift from physical to digital trust and highlights maintaining trust in online environments. In the physical world, we rely on body language, tone, facial expressions, and consistency to assess trustworthiness. In the online world, these cues vanish and are replaced by design, convenience, and the illusion of credibility. We trust platforms because they look familiar or are used by others, often overlooking red flags. Scammers exploit emotional responses like urgency, fear, and curiosity, bypassing rational judgement. Even tech-savvy users are vulnerable when emotions take over or digital systems mimic real-world trust cues. The absence of human signals creates a “trust gap” that modern scams are designed to exploit. Digital trust must therefore be built consciously, using new markers such as transparency, data protection, and ethical design. To bridge the divide, we must understand how trust changes when physical cues disappear and adapt accordingly. I look forward to reading your views and comments about the second article. #alvinsrᴏdrigᴜes ✦ #alvinsratwork ✦ #ExecutiveDirector ✦ #cybersecurity ✦ #cyberhygiene ✦ #BusinessTechnologist ✦ #Digitaltrust