Trust.
synonyms: confidence, belief, faith, certainty, assurance, conviction, credence
Hmmm. Credence sounds interesting.
When we find something on the Internet, do we trust it to be true? Are we confident?
That's a hot subject right now. Sometimes it seems more than half of what I view, within a couple months turns out to be either false, fake, deliberately biased and manipulative, or just irrelevant.
Today's modern journalists are renown for not only failing to check their facts, but also deliberately using misleading titles in order to have their articles found by search- ranking higher on search is how the media gets paid- not by truth. Huffington Post, Rolling Stone and Fox News are very profitable, but can also be considered highly suspect sources of misinformatIon and downright fabrications- all to grab attention online.
The media problem is sooo pervasive, combined with 24/7 government surveillance of private email, cell phones, your GPS location and behavior patterns, surely the Internet is having its own authenticity undermined. For some people, who invest sooo much of their time online, they feel loss of privacy, vulnerability, isolation and loneliness. Once trust is lost, there goes confidence, belief, conviction.
Three big brands that have also recently destroyed their brand's trust are VW, FIFA and the NFL.
Does anyone believe that professional soccer and football, and diesel engines from VW are not dishonest and corrupt? Maybe the diehards are hanging in there, but the mass majority has moved on to trust other things. There are lots of additional examples: politicians and their political parties, lobbyists, celebrity lawyers, Monsanto, Scientology...
There is easy money to be made on the Internet misleading and manipulating people because anywhere you click is worth money. In our personal lives, we can likewise attract a lot of attention online. But for a young teenager who makes some mistakes, negative consequences can last a lifetime.
My kids call some of today's most visible online personalities "attention whores". Sure, it attracts the clicks and therefore pays, but their end is often loneliness and loss of trust and respect by their friends, family and wider audience.
Trust doesn't scale...
Bigger is often considered better in business, education, government, athletics- bigger means more management, more financial rewards, more talent retention, more financial critical mass. But "Trust" doesn't scale- the bigger an organization grows, the less people trust it.
Here at Valhalla Pure, we find "trust, assurance, authenticity and credence" outdoors. It's that easy. Go for a walk, a hike, a ski, or a stand up paddle. Be amazed at what you see, hear and feel. Watch your kids and friends relax and light up - the further from the road you go. I'm pretty sure we can trust Mother Nature and learn from her, she's the real deal.