Bloggers More Trustworthy Than Politicians
Americans trust bloggers more than the Congress, Senate or the Media in general according to a recent survey by BIGresearch. That statement is going to get the press and what got my attention, but the good news is that over 70% of people don’t trust any of them.
Why is that good news? I am in favor of a healthy dose of skepticism. But when I thought about people trusting bloggers, who may provide no references or credentials for their news or punditry, more than politicians who in comparison have very open records on who contributes, how they spend, who they meet with, what they say and how they vote, not to mention the check on their trustworthiness provided by the media. That concerned me. The same is true for the mainstream media who are kept relatively unbiased or clearly identified as partisan by media consumers.
That bloggers seem more trustworthy just hit me as short sighted. How can the individual blogger, who you may know nothing about be more trustworthy than other groups with plenty of disclosure on who they are are what they do? Maybe doing the homework on politicians is just too difficult? Maybe a blogger’s independence and clear point of view gives the appearance of trustworthiness? Maybe the interactive nature of the medium bestows a level of trust? Maybe”trust” is defined differently for each group? Maybe trusting a blogger is different from trusting a mainstream news story is the truth or that a politician will do what they say regardless of what we know about the source?
But then the fact that more than 70% of those surveyed don’t trust the president, congress, senate, media or bloggers made it clear that the slightly higher trust in bloggers is overwhelmed by a high level of general distrust in all of them. That is the news in this survey and it gives me hope. Skepticism is alive an well.
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“But then the fact that more than 70% of those surveyed don’t trust the president, congress, senate, media or bloggers made it clear that the slightly higher trust in bloggers is overwhelmed by a high level of general distrust in all of them.”
I know that this is quite an old post, but I think it resonates so well with the political scenario here in Malaysia. I totally agree with your statement up there, that although it his harder to vouch for an individual blogger, the sheer distrust of the public with the current government is pushing them to trust the next available news source.
“That bloggers seem more trustworthy just hit me as short sighted. How can the individual blogger, who you may know nothing about be more trustworthy than other groups with plenty of disclosure on who they are are what they do? Maybe doing the homework on politicians is just too difficult? Maybe a blogger’s independence and clear point of view gives the appearance of trustworthiness? ”
I think it’s a matter of social proof essentially. Politicians are constantly berated by those of opposing political parties. No matter who you support you’ve probably heard some negative views on the person.
On the other hand, the average blogger is not nearly prolific enough to attract that many opposing views and so there is no one to criticize them, making them seem trustworthy.
Just an idea.
I have to agree with the social proof theory. I think that it has to do with that bloggers seem very accessible to many people. They respond to comments, they talk about their home life, and people can genuinely relate to them. Politicians seem so distant and in another world, so they seem less trustworthy.
I agree with Joe’s comment.
The reason people trust bloggers more than politicians is simply because there is already a mistrust in the general public towards politicians.
And in terms of track record, they have a spotty one at best.
Add to the fact that people DO want to trust and believe, well then a blogger becomes a lot easier to trust.
Granted, most people won’t do their due diligence. They want someone to tell them what, who and how to believe…
It could be that the general public has learned over time that no matter what any politician says during the hot campaign, most of it will not come to pass when they are actually elected.
At least with bloggers, there remains a chance that what is blogged about rings true, but then as human beings, we learn at a very young age not to trust anyone completely.
For that reason, I think a healthy dose of skepticism will always be alive and well.