What can the hashtag #trust tell us about how users conceptualise trust?

摘要

We collected social media network data from the site Twitter to explore the ‘language of the wire’ and how users of digital environments conceptualise trust. Our underlying aim is to gather insights that can inform the design of an interface that assists users to negotiate trust. From our pilot study exploring and developing new methods, we found that the words ‘love’, ‘faith’, ‘god’ and ‘believe’ were the most commonly used vocabulary alongside trust. From this we extrapolate that our design should deal with the following issues: the intention of those in a trust interaction, notions of authenticity, leadership and guidance. The use of social media network data is controversial within academic research communities and we review the complexities and advantages for trust researchers.