Communities = human search engines?

Proxy trust works like this: because I trust some people in the group a lot, I extend a bit of trust to most people in the group, even then ones I have never met.

Some of these questions people could just type into Google. But the answers are more meaningful when they come from a trusted circle. And many inquiries aren’t about information: they are about sharing resources. When there is underlying trust, people become willing to offer up information that’s valuable, relational and risky: for example introduc... See more

I sometimes think about communities as human search engines. Groups with trusted relationships and a healthy sense of belonging are a great way for people to answer questions in their lives. And in fact, that’s what many people use communities for. We regularly work with communities of change-makers and most activities in the online forums are sear... See more

Proxy trust allows for better search results with the human search engine.Let’s say you’re part of a group of 500, in which you have 20 real, trusted relationships. Instead of searching across 20 people, with proxy trust your questions will now be considered by 200, maybe 300 people. That leads to better outcomes and it further strengthens the trus... See more

Today’s technology to allow people to search across communities is very basic. Most search inquiries still happen as posts in community forums, which haven’t changed that much since the early days of the internet. I see huge potential for better match-making in the future, for example with the support of AI that can understand suggest potential mat... See more