> What’s gone from the internet, after all, isn’t “truth,” but trust: the sense that the people and things we encounter are what they represent themselves to be

> What’s gone from the internet, after all, isn’t “truth,” but trust: the sense that the people and things we encounter are what they represent themselves to be. I wonder if attitudes towards trusting content on the internet are partially a generational thing. Frankly, the idea that "trust" ever really existed on the internet (post very early days, anyway) strikes me as slightly absurd. Having gotten online in the late 90s/early 2000s, my default position, augmented by countless stranger-danger-type warnings from parents and teachers and slightly tongue-in-cheek disclaimers on websites[1], was that everything was bullshit until proven otherwise. I don't want to sound too sanctimonious, but that sort of skeptical attitude is a good defense against being taken in. In contrast, I've (totally anecdotally) seen older age cohorts and/or people who just ended up online later for whatever reasons develop much more relaxed, trusting attitudes towards internet content. The stereotypical boomer aunt for whom Facebook is the internet tends to be much less suspicious of content they see, as, after all, it's being posted by their real life friends! Why would one's real life friends go on the internet and tell lies? This is as good a place as any to plug my pet theory that real-name policies are actively harmful, as they incorrectly imply trust where none should exist. This dynamic, coupled with attitudes towards media outlets tuned by eras in which there were only a handful of (generally) credible outlets, seems to be a recipe for complete credulousness when transplanted into a low-trust medium like the internet. So, rather than a redefining of the essential qualities of the internet, what seems to be in the offing is a general recalibration away from overly-trusting models of thought among segments of the population who never really developed the sort of awareness that I'd argue is necessary for not ending up as a total dupe. Of course, the article's points on _why_ a lot of fake content exists totally stand - profit motive is a massive driver of that sort of behavior, and I genuinely hope that the ad model crumbles under the weight of its own depravity. --- [1] "The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."