AI-generated summary
The concept of digital trust emerges as a crucial solution to the growing crisis of confidence in public and private institutions. Central to this new form of trust is the peer-to-peer (P2P) model, which revolutionizes how people interact and transact goods, services, or interests. Florent Bannwarth, Operations Manager at BlablaCar Spain, likens digital trust to the transformative impact the telephone had on human communication. Digital trust manifests in three forms: trust in open content, blockchain-based trust, and peer-to-peer trust found in collaborative platforms. These platforms enable scalable social and economic relationships through algorithms, fostering an ecosystem where trust grows exponentially through user interactions. For example, BlablaCar expanded from one million to six million users in Spain within five years, illustrating this rapid growth. Additionally, trust on one collaborative platform tends to boost confidence in others, with nearly half of BlablaCar users exploring additional sharing economy services. Notably, trust levels within these platforms approach those found among family and friends.
BlablaCar identifies six pillars forming the foundation of digital trust in collaborative platforms, summarized in the DREAMS model: Declared (self-disclosed user information), Rated (peer ratings), Engagement (user commitment), Active (user activity), Moderated (platform oversight), and Social (integration with social media). Together, these elements build robust trust not only in the platform but also among users. This digital trust underpins thriving businesses in the sharing economy, with 30% of Spaniards reportedly using such platforms. Companies like Glovo and Wallapop, which rely on peer trust, are attracting significant investment, highlighting trust’s role as a driver of sustainable growth. For deeper insights, experts like Javier Creus and Florent Bannwarth provide further discussion on trust-based business models in related webinars.
Collaborative economy platforms are based on relationships between peers with bonds of trust based on algorithms, data and indicators.
The new digital trust is presented as the counterpart to the crisis of confidence that public and private institutions are going through. One of the main characteristics is peer-to-peer trust.
Digital trust is a revolution, and it represents a before and after in how people interact when they exchange goods, services or interests. Our expert at the Future Trends Forum, Florent Bannwarth, Operations Manager at BlablaCar Spain, compared digital trust to what the telephone meant for human communication.
But if we delve into digital trust, we can distinguish three types of trust:
- trust in open content.
- Trust based on BlockhChain.
- trust between peers, or trust from collaborative platforms, which we will delve into below.
Focusing on peer trust, we are talking about collaborative platforms, which are a scalable way of generating social and economic relationships, mediated by algorithms, quickly and on a large scale, as defined by the expert Albert Cañigueral.
Why is it also called peer-to-peer trust?
- It has an exponential growth, since the capital of trust is created by the interactions between the members. For example, Blablacar took 5 years to get the first million users in Spain and in the following 5 years it has managed to reach 6 million.
- It has a “contagion” effect, so if we use a collaborative economy platform, our trust in other platforms increases. In a study carried out by Blablacar, almost 50% of users said that the user experience had opened them up to explore other collaborative economy platforms: buying and selling, freelancing, co-investment.
- He has a high degree of confidence. Participating in a collaborative platform makes its members have a very high index of trust among them. Almost at the same level of trust we have with family and friends and much more than we have with co-workers and neighbors.
The digital trust of collaborative platforms is created through a combination of 6 pillars, which Blablacar calls the DREAMS model (Declared, Rated, Engaged, Active, Moderated, Social):
- D-Declared (users declare about themselves): It is the information that the user voluntarily offers, being the first step to have a reliable profile. Members can declare their name, age, preferences, or give a description of themselves.
- R-Rated (users rate each other): These are the opinions and ratings that other users make about a profile. They are an invaluable tool for reputation and trust.
- E-Engagement : The level of engagement of a user. This parameter is linked to actions such as the prepayment of a good or service. Trust is sought in the user’s compliance with what has been agreed.
- A-Active (users show activity): To increase trust, information is obtained about the level and frequency of a user’s activity.
- M-Moderated (a third party -the platform-, moderating): Users should know that everything they see online meets the required level of goodwill and authenticity. This role is played by the third party that provides the exchange platform.
- S-Social (users participate in social media): Connecting the profile with social media profiles allows a person to take advantage of their online presence to generate greater trust.
We can see that the interweaving of these 6 pillars makes users have great confidence in the platform they use and, also and due to the number of indicators and meters that it provides, in the rest of the users.
Digital trust has become the foundation of a thriving business, as large sharing economy platforms have become a stable and scalable business. According to the CNMC, 3 out of 10 Spaniards already use these platforms. This is causing companies in this sector to be in clear growth. According to the latest report by the Observatory of Startups in Spain, companies based on trust between peers, such as Glovo or Wallapop, are leading the latest mega rounds of investment with amounts of more than 150 million Euros.
If you want to learn more about how trust is becoming the basis of new business models, we invite you to watch our webinar, where Javier Creus , one of the main strategists in the field of collaborative economy and citizen innovation, and Florent Bannwarth, explain examples of models based on trust between users.
